Online Chat Room Etiquette

Chat rooms usually have stringent rules that they require users to follow in order to maintain integrity and safety for their users. Particularly in rooms for children, rules usually do not allow users to use offensive language, or to promote hate mail, violence and other negative issues. Also chat rooms often do not allow advertising in their rooms or flooding, which is continually filling the screen with repetitive text. Typing with caps lock on is usually considered shouting and is discouraged. Chat rooms usually have a list of rules for users to obey when they chat online though they are not usually kept.

Sometimes chat room venues are moderated either by limiting who is allowed to speak (not common), or by having moderation volunteers patrol the venue watching for disruptive or otherwise undesirable behaviour.
Yet, most commonly used chat rooms are not moderated and users may type what they personally choose to send.

Chattiquette / Nettiquette
The term chatiquette is a variation of nettiquette and describes basic rules of online communication. To avoid misunderstandings and to simplify the communication between users in a chat these conventions or guidelines have been created. The chattiquette varies from community to community, in general it describes basic courtesy, introduces new user into the community and the associated network culture. As an example, it is considered rude to write only in UPPER CASE, because it looks as if your are shouting.

Some of the above information was attained from Wikipedia.

To learn how to practice chat room etiquette, go to eHow.