Remembering Teen Chatlines of the 1980s

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.