Been thinking about this a lot lately and figured I'd ask the community directly. Anonymous chat is mostly an illusion unless you're running through a trustworthy VPN and using a burner.
I've had the best text-based experiences on forums rather than dedicated chat apps ironically. The AOL chatroom nostalgia is real but the modern equivalents are honestly way more functional.
The old Java-based chat rooms are basically all dead. Everything has moved to modern web tech.
A few things worth keeping in mind:
- Reverse image search is your best friend for vetting profile photos quickly.
- Trust your gut completely. If something feels off before a meet, cancel without guilt.
- Payment requests from matches should always be treated as a scam regardless of the story behind them.
- Use a Google Voice number instead of your real number when you're still getting to know someone.
- A VPN is helpful for general privacy but not a complete solution for anonymity online.