In the 1980s — way before chat rooms, ICQ, SMS messages, Tinder App and Snapchat where available — teens used to call the phone party chat lines to entertain themselves and pass the time. For only 95 cents per minute, teens could chat live on the phone with up to 9 people at the same time. While teenagers loved this innovative new service, their parents weren’t as happy with the high bills they were receiving.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/this-day-in-history-when-teen-chat-lines-made-the-news/

Many phone dating chatlines such as Livelinks, QuestChat and Fonochat are still active today. Most of the phone dating services have stopped using premium toll or 900 prefix numbers due to high number of complaints and charge backs. Callers are now required to pay via credit card if they want to continue using the service after a complimentary free trial period.

Due to an increase in underage sex, rape, murder and other other controversies, today chatlines are targeted exclusively to adults; anyone under the age of 18 asked to hang up.

You don’t have to be along this Valentine’s Day just because you currently don’t have a love interest. Don’t just wish for love, go out and work for it. This Valentine’s day, visit your local bar, attend a singles party with your single friends, set up a date through a dating app or phone dating chat line. It doesn’t matter what you decide to do as long as you don’t end up doing nothing.

Remember that no one is going to deliver love in a silver platter; if it is love you desire, don’t just wish for it, work for it. In case you decide to stay home (I get it, every place is crowded on Valentines), then take the time to pamper yourself.

Don’t Just Wish for Love, Work for Love!

This February the 14th, fill out your bathtub, open a bottle of wine and call your favorite chatline. Try your best to have deep, meaningful conversation, and who knows, if you really hit it off you may not every be alone again!

Make sure you have fun but don’t let your emotions put you in danger. Always use protection and take the necessary precautions when meeting new people, especially if you just met over the phone.

Today I met with Jake Cohen, a 27 year old New Yorker professional illustrator and successful entrepreneur. Jake used a gay chatline to find the support he needed to come out of the closet and improved his career and relationships in the process.

In this post I will summarize what I learned from sitting with Jake — or Yacobi how his parents affectionately call him — at Max Brenner’s Chocolate Bar in New York City for more than three and a half hours.

According to Jake, he always knew he was gay deep inside. However, coming from a Jewish Orthodox family, he always found it overwhelming hard to bring out the topic to his family. “Gay people are not normal” — his father would say whenever the topic of homosexuality was being discussed. Jake repressed his gay feelings and became isolated, anxious and depressed.

Eventually Jake found his passion; he became a professional digital illustrator. He found joy of expressing himself through his Wacom tablet and Macbook Pro. Jake became certified in Adobe Illustrator as well as Photoshop. His creations have been featured in art galleries around the country, lately including Miami’s Art Basel where he sold one of his creations for an excess of $180,000.00.

Although he knew he was financially successful, Jake felt empty inside. Repressing his sexuality for 20+ years really took a toll on his relationships. It is then that Jake started to look for help. In an effort to find a phone therapist, Jake typed “Gay Phone Chat” into a search engine. To his surprise, instead of finding a telephone counseling service, his first click landed him on the chatline guide‘s page containing a list of all the gay chatlines page. Jake took a chance and called GuySpy which was offering a 30 minute free trial to all new callers. “I thought chatlines were for phone sex” — Jake remarked. “I never heard about a gay chatline, and so I was curious” — he laughingly admitted.

Jake Cohen was trying to find an telephone-based therapist when he found the chatline guide instead.

No one in his family knew that Jake was secretly calling a gay chat line. He was very careful to call when none of his roommates where home, or really late at night after everyone was sound asleep.  Jake found friends on the other side of the line. “It was not sexual at all. I used GuySpy [and other gay chatlines] whenever I felt I needed someone to talk to without judging me”. “Calling GuySpy was like healing to me. I’ve been in [formal] therapy before but it just didn’t work.”

Jake went on  explaining how chatlines have a bad reputation because most people confuse them with hotlines. “Chatlines are much more than phone sex.” he declared. “Yes, you can find horny people looking for phone sex in there but if you look a little deeper you can find genuine people looking to have decent conversation and make friends.”

Jake met a 36 year old gay man he refers to as “Mo-mo” a nickname for his real name, Moises. Mo-mo had a rough upbringing and he too had been forced to repress his homosexuality until his late 20s.  Like Jake, Mo-mo also came from a Orthodox family where gays where seen as abnormal and unwanted. “Things have changed a lot since then” — Mo-mo said as he walked to join us in the cafe. “My family as well as most Jewish orthodox people now accept gay people as equals. Even my Rabbi is happy to see me and refer business to me.”

“Moises told me his story about how he had to fight the societal notions that gay people where evil or inferior.” said Jake, “and he inspired me to do the same.” It took Jake more than a month to prepare for this moment, but after chatting almost daily with Mo-mo, he felt he was ready. On January 17, Jake invited his parent to Sunday brunch at a local kosher restaurant. After exchanging some pleasantries, he went right to the point. “Mom, Dad. Everything is OK” — Jake said to soften the blow. I asked you both to come here because I want to tell you something you might  not want to hear, but its been killing me inside for a long time” — he continued. “Mom, Dad, I am Gay.” With a tear in his eye, Jake looked down for a couple seconds. Chana — Yacobi’s mom — raised his head while Joseph his dad replied “We are proud of you Yacobi. No matter what happens we are your parents and we love you regardless”.

“It took me 30 seconds of courage to being the issue to the table” — Jake explained. “After that, it was easy.” Jake did not expect his parents would be so supportive. He learned that his parents already suspected Jake was gay, but they too did not know how to handle the sensitive topic. Joseph — his Father — had even consulted with his most trusted Rabbi about the issues years ago. Rabbi Eliyahu Garson explained him that regardless what the text say, God loves all his children equally. That would it is written in the sacred texts are not to be taken literally but interpreted to make the best of each situation. “That is why God instructed the Jewish people to listen to their sages; to interpret the law!” – he continued. “And if the Sages approve, who am I to disapprove.”

Jake is very thankful for having met Mo-mo on GuySpy. Mo-mo frequents the same synagogue that Joseph does, and they see each other almost every day. Joseph’s image of gay people has completely changed, he even invites Moises (Mo-mo) to read from the Torah once in a while. “Moshe [Mo-mo’s hebrew name] saved my son’s live” — Joseph explained. “They say when someone save a life, he saves a country, so Moshe is special to me”.

Irrespective of all the gay jokes they used to tell, Jakes friends and roommates were very supportive too when he came out of the closet in public. “I posted it on Facebook; some people taught I was joking, but in general everyone was supportive.” — Jake recalled.  “I had not one negative comment. I am so happy I had the balls to come out” and if it wasn’t for GuySpy, GuyLine, InteractiveMale and of course Mo-mo (and all the other guys that inspired me to come out of the closet),  I don’t think I would have done it. “Chatlines are good, even if sometimes people abuse them” — he concluded.

Today Jake is completely different person. His parents describe they can see a sparkle in his eyes once again. His business is thriving and he no longer isolates himself hide his pain. Jake is a big supporter of a pro gay marriage movement and other gay support and advocacy organizations such as Advocated for Youth and ReachOut.com; resources Jake didn’t know existed before he came out of the closet. Jake also contributes the tithe to his Jewish synagogue — “they’ve really evolved on these kinds of issues and they do good community work so I am happy to help”. Since Jake’s revelation, other young members of this orthodox community have been inspired to come out of the closet publicly as well.

Some look for long term companionship while others look for short term fun. Whatever be the reason, with the increase in the number of adults considering dating options, the ways and means of facilitating it are also increasing. Dating sites have been in the market for a while now but the option of phone chatlines are keeping users excited. The increasing options are now posing the question, “Phone Chatlines vs Dating Sites, Which is better?”

Dating sites let users create their profile, mention their interests and upload their pictures. They let you browse through the profiles of other members and even make recommendations based on the criteria entered by you. Taking up a paid membership of online dating site lets you contact individuals whose profiles you have liked. And if all goes well, you could be in for a romantic relationship.

Phone chatlines on the other hand let the users record their introductory messages. The users can listen to introductory messages of other members and if they like any voice or message, they can contact the person for a live conversation. Some chatlines also offer the option of leaving an offline message for the person. And again, things can stay over phone or progress to in-person dates depending on one’s interest.

To understand which of the two options is better, we have compared both over some parameters that are essential to every dating media and identified the winner of the two options.

It cannot be concluded that any one of the dating medium is better than the other. For those who are too shy to speak up, online dating works best. For the quick and fast moving ones, phone chatlines work better. The better of the two depends entirely on who you are and what you are looking for.

Most dating chatlines are owned and operated by a just a few major chat line companies.

Teligence Inc

Teligence own the most complete portfolio of dating chatlines including straight, gay, black and latin phone lines.

• Livelinks
• RedHot Dateline
• Tango Personals
• Vibe Line
• Fonochat Latino
• GuySpy Voice
• Interactive Male
• Lavender Line

More About Teligence Chatlines

First Media Group Inc.

Founded by Mr. Grant Hood in 1988, First Media Group, Inc. provides interactive voice, web, and SMS technologies for dating. It offers interactive personals and dating content in various mediums, including telephone, Web, and mobile. It has operations in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The company is based in Toronto, Canada.

FMG owns some of the most recognizable chat lines in North America including:

• QuestChat
• Lavalife Voice
• Nightline
• Hardline

More About First Media Group

Talkee

Talkee is a leading provider of free telephone chat line services that has been operating for over 20 years. Thousands of people use our chat lines for fun and entertainment.. All we ask of you is that you tell your friends to call our chat lines so that there are enough new people calling in to keep the phone lines fun and exciting.

Unlike other chatline companies, there is no charge for our service. Talkee provides local access numbers for most major cities. The most popular chatline brands Talkee operates include:

• Raven
• Donut
• Alibi
• Blade
• Cuervo
• Loach

More About Talkee

VoiceHub

VoiceHub is a relative new comer to the phone chat industry.

VoiceHub owns chat lines such as:

• AffairHub Live
• ChatlineUSA
• RodeoChat
• VoiceRoulette
• LatinChat
• Masturline
• Cheat/Chat
• GuyLine

Chatline Network

Chatline Networks owns a variety of niche chatline including:

We are mostly a marketing company for dating, social, and chat lines globally. We believe in the power of connections with live people that share the same interests that can benefit parties and strike interests, fun, connections, and entertainment in someone’s life. We love the fact of connecting people with others that they would not have the chance of met if they would have not found us. We like to provide an instrument to build community and also relationships and even someone to talk to in times of need. Regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, we want to bring people together. We want everyone to be treated as equals and best of all have fun. Chat Line Network works on being the instrument to meet people that share the same interests as you and sometimes different that could bring excitement to your life. Live life, be safe, meet new people, and have fun!

• Azul Line
• Local Hot Chat
• Espanola Chat
• Sexy Live Connections
• Ambience Chat
• Oriental Chat Line
• College Party Chat
• HollarLine
• Howl Line
• Black Singlez
• Hot Latinas Chat
• Gay Males Line
• Lesbians Chat Live

Social Tech Unlimited

• Megamates

Based in San Diego, CA, Social Tech Unlimited owns Megamates.

Telemania

• Talk121

We’ve finally published the first edition of the chatline guide’s ultimate list of party lines numbers.

Download and print the ultimate list of chatline phone numbers here. The list includes every major chatline along with its free trial length.

We’ve also published a low-res version of the list and a wallet size version so you can have all the chat line phone numbers with you at all times.

Dating chatlines are supposed to connect real callers who are interested in phone dating in real time. But some less-known chatlines have been exposed for using paid operators in order to keep the lines more busy and the members more engaged.

By keeping some professional phone operator on payroll, the chatlines are able to entertain male callers longer, resulting in more used minutes, increased client retention rate and renewals. Harmless if you are just looking for entertainment, but what about those people that are calling a chatline with the hopes of meeting someone in real life? Chatlines with paid operators are scamming those who are looking for real relationships, and not a fantasy based on a lie.

Phone chatlines are not the only service known to use fake operators. Some dating sites to add to the fantasy. Sites such as Ashley Madison are know for having company operated profiles. Chatlines — like dating sites — protect themselves by acknowledging the existence of fake profiles on their terms and condition’s fine print.

If you want to make sure you are not stuck spending your money while talking to a paid phone operator with absolutely no desire of getting to know you, make sure you stick to the mainstream phone dating lines such as Livelinks, QuestChat, Fonochat, Nightline which spend enormous advertising budgets to attract authentic callers, both males and females from all across the county into their systems.

One of the biggest advantages to living in this modern society is the ease with which we can meet new people. Chatlines have turned mobile phones into virtual single’s bars, and everyone is free to mingle. The vast majority of the people on the chatlines are those looking for engaging conversation. There are even those seeking pillow talk or something more intimate. Some people are there seeking long term relationships and some people actually find love. However, every rose has its thorns and there a few bad apples looking to spoil it for everyone else. It’s important to know the scams and schemes being used by chatline con-artists before delving into that world.

These are some of the most common phone scams that happen on chatlines:

Telemarketers

There’s no better way to reach bunches of people than by calling a chatline. Telemarketers know this and they use chatlines to lure the unsuspecting. You’ll hear several messages where the speaker is trying to lure you to a website or another chatline. Most of these are harmless, but there are a few things to remember. The line you initially called probably used legitimate advertising to draw you. It costs thousands of dollars, to get you interested, and they probably have rules banning telemarketers. If the secondary line was legitimate, they would probably use legitimate marketing practices. You should block all messages from these callers, report them and move on to the next person.

Catfishing

There was a time when only men had to concern themselves with transexuals, but these days have past. Transexuals have as much right to access the chatlines as everyone else, and most of them are upfront about their sexual orientation. There are others who disguise their voices and even their physical appearances. In these days of photo-messaging, it’s easy to get pictures of the other party. However, surgery, hormone pills, and prosthetic hips can make anyone appear more feminine. The same medical procedures can also make a woman appear to be more masculine. There are even synthetic skin dildos, that are nearly indistinguishable from human flesh. Obviously, the sight of someone’s genitalia is an obvious sign of their birth gender, but heavy petting and oral sex may take place prior to anyone getting fully undressed.

Scam Artists

This category is actually divided into several others, because there are different types of scammers. These individuals have one thing in common and that’s an understanding of your circumstances. You’re either too busy or too shy to met people in a more traditional method, and you’re probably tired of trying. You’re not desperate, but you’d like to ind someone without having to jump through so many hoops. The scammers take advantage of your situation by dangling the ideal bait. If you mention a particular type of man or woman then they’ll crate a profile fitting that exact description. Some of them will even text you photos of someone else in an effort to keep your attention. The object is to make you fall in love, with what you perceive to be perfection. Of course, you would do anything or someone you love, and the scammers realize this. There are scams where the caller leads you to another site or number where you’re asked for your phone number, but you should ignore those anyway. The real scammers get you emotionally involved and then strike.

Help Requests

This scam usually involves a woman of above average beauty rather than a drop dead gorgeous bombshell. She gets you by responding to all your messages and she even sends you pictures. Before long, she lets you know that her life is turbulent but not terrible. After a few days of intense conversation, he or she lets you know the turbulence has escalated to all-out turmoil. There will usually be a dying parent, an evil uncle and a grandparent who took the person in after both parents met their demise. The scammer establishes this villain long before the request for funds. When the evil uncle finally turns on Cinderella, you offer to fly her from her hometown to yours, and you send her the fare through PayPal. She then promptly closes the account and keeps your cash. This is one of the most common scams.

Business Opportunities

You may meet people who only want to be friends. You may be a straight person who meets a heterosexual friend of the same gender. This friend will endure himself to you and suddenly stumble upon the greatest investment in the history of financing and its only available for a limited time! He’ll promise that your investment will return twenty fold and he may even provide you with false data to back his lofty claims. Unfortunately, this person is also looking to steal your money. Anyone asking you to give them money is probably a thief.

Every Guy’s Fantasy

Most guys have fantasies about being so desirable that women will simply throw their inhibitions aside. However, anything that’s too good to be true usually is. Most women luring you with easy sex will have hidden motives. You’ll probably arrive at the predetermined rendezvous to find that you lovely lady is actually a lady of the night. Some men are so overcome by their hormones that they will agree to pay even though the woman is not quite as beautiful in person as she was in her pictures. Alternatively, there will be no woman at all. When you arrive at the location you will be mugged by three guys.

Fake Police Officer

This scam involves a fake police officer.

The chances of you having a negative chat line experience are small at best. It’s still best to know the signs of trouble so you can avoid any mishaps. Fortunately, you can easily block any potentially scandalous callers with the mere click of a button. You should be upfront and forward about what you’re looking for in a partner, and ask the same from the people to whom you speak.