Things You'll Need:
- Computer
- Internet connection
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Step 1
The first thing you want to do is find a forum that peeks your interest. This is very easy to do since there are probably thousands of forums created for everything known under the sun. Go to your favorite search engine and type in "[your interest] forum." For example, you might type in "cat lovers forum." When you click "Enter" you are going to have plenty of forums to chose from.
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Step 2
Once you pick a forum you will need to sign up to be a participant for that forum. Most forums will ask you to create a user name and a password. Your user name can be anything you want and can contain letters or numbers. Have fun with it and try to be creative. You will also need to give your email address when you sign up, since you'll then receive a welcome email from the forum moderator that will include further instructions on joining the forum.
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Step 3
Go back to your email account and click on the forum's verification link. You will then be able to log in with the username and password you created. Once you log in you can begin posting, but it's recommend you set up a profile first.
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Step 4
Setting up a profile is pretty self explanatory. You can reveal as little or as much as you want about yourself. Limit revealing personal information, however, for safety reasons. The signature is where you can type a favorite saying or website that others will see every time you make a post. This is beneficial to anyone who is in business, because that is one way they can advertise their links and bring in traffic. If you don't have a website, you can always put the address to your MySpace page or favorite networking site.
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Step 5
Take some time to read the posts created by the more experienced forum members to get an idea of what that particular forum is all about. Feel free to answer any questions that you may know the answer too. To answer another member's question you will need to click the button at the bottom that says "reply to this post". Almost every forum has a welcome folder where you can introduce yourself. Make sure when you go there that you share a little bit about yourself so that others will remember you and you can begin to build relationships with them. Again, you don't have to share personal information.
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Step 6
Ask your burning questions. There should be a little button on the top right hand corner that says "new topic." Click on that and put your question in the subject line. If you are on a cat lovers forum, for example, you might ask, "How do I safely clip my kittens toe nails?" Then in the body you'd go in to a little bit more detail. Within hours you should have a few replies that answer your question.
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Step 7
Finally, all you need to learn is how to use the PM button. PM stands for "Private Message." Sometimes you may need to contact a person on the forum without letting the rest of the world see what you want to say. Save this feature for private chats that others on the forum would not want to participate in.
