One of the very best ways to meet women is in the TRUE chat rooms. And with a Web cam, you not only can talk with them, you can get a sense of their looks, their mannerisms and their attitudes.

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Videochat is one of the hottest trends on the Internet today. It’s a great way to find out if your upcoming date will be fireworks or fizzle. And you can save a lot of potential heartache and wasted time by meeting face to face online first.

Recently I surveyed a handful of TRUE videochatters. What I found out might surprise you: Before getting together in person with someone they’ve met online, many people are using videochat as a friendly, safe way to go on a virtual first date.

Maybe someone on your compatibles list has caught your eye. Or maybe you found a profile that looks interesting while searching on True.com. Send an email inviting her to meet in you a chat room. That way you can fill out all the answers to questions you might have had when reading her profile.

“It’s just more exciting to chat using a Web cam, because you can see reactions to your conversation as they happen,” a female videochatter told me.

And another True videochatter said “It helps to see people because some people put up a photo that totally isn’t them.” With videochat you literally get a more complete picture.

The barriers to videochat are practically nonexistent. Web cams range from $5 to about $800. They’re easy to buy online or at your local discount or computer store. Target, K-mart or Best Buy are easy places to pick one up. What you spend depends on the quality of image you want to project – like many things in life, you get what you pay for.

Videochat Lingo

Whisper — If you find someone in the group that catches your interest, send them a Whisper and invite them to have a private video conversation with you. Kiss — Icon that symbolizes flirtatiousness. Smack — Icon that's akin to a friendly slap. All of these chat room settings can be found on the Chat Settings Tab of each of the True.com chat rooms.

A good way to decide on which Web cam to buy is to use a comparison-shopping site like mysimon.com, smarter.com and nextag.com to do research. PC Magazine , along with doing comparison pricing, will also let you read editor and user reviews.

Some Web cams are plug and play, others require you to install proprietary software. It’s a good idea to check the technical specifications to make sure you’re getting something compatible with your computer before you purchase.

The bottom line is, though, you don’t need a lot of cash or technical skills to get set up for videochat.

There are a couple of easy ways to get someone to videochat with you. The first is to just wander in to a chat room and see who’s already videochatting. From the chat lobby you can see the screen names of all the people that are in each of the chat rooms. Just click on the chat room you're interested in, and you pop right into it. You can tell who’s videochatting by the live picture next to someone's screen name. When you see them, they’ll see you. If you don’t like who you see, just switch rooms.

Another great way to videochat is to invite someone you’ve been swapping winks or emails with. Set up a date to meet in a designated chat room at a certain time and take it from there.

• You must wear clothes. Showing up naked will get you kicked out of the chat room, and besides, it’s just not nice. You wouldn’t walk naked down the street.
• Don’t eat while you’re on camera. Remember playing “see food” when you were in the 4th grade? It’s just as gross now, and won’t win you any points.
• Smile. Smile. And smile again. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so show your best side.

When things get going really well, you can take your chat private by Whispering (see box above) and inviting your new friend to a private chat. After all, getting to know each other is what it’s all about.

Click here to go to the True.com Chat Lobby now!