Let's Talk Chat Rooms

As we wake up, we struggle to get up so we can push the two buttons we know will start our day. The coffee pot and the computer. As we pour our coffee, we hear those famous words U GOT MAIL. We wonder if it's the guy we met in the chat room last night, so rush to the computer.
I did this for one year, for two hours every morning. I chose one chat room that was familiar to me.
The nice thing about chat rooms- you can make many great people that will be friends for life. Which I have, and they know who they are.
In the room, I was always myself, since we all know you can be anyone you want. There are lonely people there just looking to chat. That I liked.
Then when the guys come on to a woman, say me, or another, the anamosity begins. If the guy asks to meet you, and you say no. My experience was when I said no thank you, I got called names.
I had my identity stolen in a chat room. Tho the fraud unit of AOL handled that. I had my picture used under another person's profile, another fraud.
I also had a stalker for two years, he watched wherever I went, and came in and called me all kinds of things. That went on for 2 years.
I was also cloned, which was told is the greatest form of admiration, tho it's not. But the fraud unit handled that also.
Tell me, are chat rooms your life. Do you stay in them for 10 hours at a time. I have seen people in the morning, then I went to work, and that night there they were. Do these people actually have a life.
I read an article that chat room dates are safer then dating someone you meet outside. I totally disagree.
We all have at least one horror story about an incident in a chat room. Would love to hear yours.
I haven't been in a chat room for a year now. Tho I still have a few good friends I met in the room, and that is healthy. What isn't healthy is meeting a stranger before you really know who he/she is outside the room. I don't say chat rooms are bad, but with the experiences I had, i'm done with them.
Whoever you are, if you plan a meeting, make sure it's during the day and in a crowded area. Don't go through what I had to with stalkers, cloners, and liars.
So please tell me what you think? Do you say HORRAY when a fight breaks out? Is AOL chat rooms your lifeline? I want to know. We all have our own stories. And if you ever have a chatroom stalker, just write to the fraud unit at AOL. Or you can always just take the arrow and click yourself out of the room.
An ex chat room woman I am.