points of disagreement may be issues that you'll want to think about and explore carefully.
Another way to explore the Internet is in chat rooms. These rooms enable you to converse in real time (just like an in-person conversation, except typed onto a screen) with other folks who share your interests. Chat rooms tend to be sorted by sexual orientation (special rooms for female-dominant/male-submissive players, gay players, etc.), sexual fantasy (rooms that explore the male-dominant culture described in the "Gor" fantasy novels by John Norman, rooms for men who enjoy being treated as "sissies," etc.), support (rooms for people married to
non-kinky people, for people overcoming abusive backgrounds, etc.), or location (rooms in which people who live close together can get to know one another). There are also many general get-acquainted rooms in which everybody can mix freely.
Chat rooms can be great fun, and a terrific way to meet kindred spirits - either for on-line interaction, or in person. However, be aware that many of these rooms have special protocols, such as ways in which submissives are expected to address dominants, which are not necessarily typical of realtime kink interactions. If you want to hang out in a chat room, learn and use the local conventions, but don't assume that anyone outside the chat room will use or appreciate them.
People often "play" in chat rooms, sometimes only in words ("I fasten the collar around your neck and stroke your silky hair"), sometimes by giving the submissive orders that can be followed at home.
Janet once did a chat room scene that led to new insights for herself, her partner and several onlookers:
I knew and liked my friend C - a male top -from many online conversations in the past, but we'd never actually played, in reality or on-line. But one night we were in an open channel, with quite a few people exchanging conversations around us... and, well, one thing kind of led to another: we wound up exploring a lengthy scene that was his first experience ever as a bottom.
In lustful, stroke-by-stroke detail, I described myself shaving his backside, sensually applying the warm lather, deftly slicing through it with the edge of my safety razor, exposing stripe after stripe of fresh pink skin until his butt was smooth and glowing. He, in his turn, described the slippery creamy lather, the cool feeling as the hair and foam were stripped away, the vulnerability of his new hairlessness. Then, when we were both thoroughly turned on by the shaving, I informed him that I was strapping on my "dick"... by this point, everybody else's conversation had pretty much stopped; they were mesmerized by C's and my scene. I described the thick glob of lube I put on my fingers and used to probe his butthole. Then, each of us took turns describing our sensations as my relentless dildo took possession of his freshly denuded backside. I described the rhythmic pressure of the dildo flange against my mound, and how it was driving me closer and closer to orgasm... he described the relentless pressure against his prostate, the intensity of my thrusting, the feeling of being totally possessed... and eventually, in cyberspace (and perhaps in real space as well) we both reached orgasm.
It was a reality-changing scene for both of us. Soon afterwards, C went on to explore his bottom space in real time
— the last time I saw him he was a happy switch. I discovered a shaving kink I'd never known I possessed. And, based on the enthusiastic and slightly startled comments I got afterwards, several onlookers learned a bit more about their own turn-ons! It's easy to assume that, since no physical force is being exerted, you don't need to negotiate your limits or needs. On the contrary, we both know people who have experienced unexpected and genuine emotional trauma from chatroom encounters: our suggestion is that you negotiate them as carefully as you would a physical scene. You can use the "Yes/ No/Maybe"