Welcome to NatterFly
NatterFly was created with one simple goal: to provide a friendly, welcoming and safer place where people can meet, talk, share interests and become part of a genuine online community.
Whether you are looking to meet new people, join a conversation about your hobbies, discover local groups, create your own chatroom or simply enjoy a chat after work, NatterFly has been built to make that possible.
Safety and privacy by design
Many older chat systems made it extremely easy for somebody to see another member in a room, open a private message or whisper and immediately send them something unwanted. NatterFly has deliberately been designed differently.
There are no private messages, whispers or hidden one-to-one conversations inside NatterFly chatrooms. Joining a room means joining the room conversation; it does not automatically open another way for strangers to contact you.
Public chat stays public
Chatroom conversations take place in the room rather than disappearing into private whispers. This makes inappropriate behaviour harder to hide and gives room teams a better opportunity to recognise problems.
Connections are off by default
New accounts do not accept connection requests by default. If you only want to enjoy the chatrooms, meet people and make friends there, you can simply leave connection requests switched off.
You choose who can connect
If you decide you would like to use messaging, you can enable connection requests in your account settings. Another member must then request to connect and you decide whether to accept or decline.
Messaging requires mutual consent
Messages can only be exchanged through the separate Messaging Centre after a connection has been accepted. There are no message attachments or image uploads; messaging is deliberately text only.
You can change your mind
Accepting a connection is not permanent. Connections can be ended, connection requests can be switched off again, and unwanted contact can be blocked.
Designed to add friction
No system can prevent every bad actor, but NatterFly deliberately adds extra steps before one-to-one contact is possible. Genuine members can connect by choice, while people looking for quick, unsolicited private access find that much harder.
These choices are not intended to make genuine friendships difficult. They are there to put members in control. Two people who have spent time talking in a chatroom and want to continue their conversation can choose to connect, while somebody who wants nothing more than friendly public chat never has to open that door.
No online community can remove every risk. Our aim is to reduce opportunities for harassment, unsolicited sexual messages, scams, grooming and other unwanted behaviour, while still providing the friendly social network and community experience NatterFly was created for.
Inspired by the communities we remember
NatterFly takes inspiration from the lively online communities and public chat networks many people grew up using.
They were places where people could join a room, say hello, meet others with similar interests, share a laugh and become a familiar part of a community.
We have brought that community spirit into a modern platform with member profiles, public chatrooms, groups, discussions, events, albums, polls and improved moderation tools.
What can you do on NatterFly?
Join live chatrooms
Enter public rooms, join the conversation and meet people from across the United Kingdom and beyond.
Create your own room
Start a chatroom, choose its subject and manage it with owner, host, mute, kick and ban controls.
Build a group
Create a community around a location, hobby, club, interest, organisation or shared activity.
Share events
Discover activities and events created by members and groups, or organise something of your own.
How NatterFly helps keep you safe
Safety is not simply a set of rules at NatterFly. A number of protections have been built directly into the way the site works to give members more control over their interactions and help our moderation team identify potentially harmful behaviour.
Safety alerts in live chat
NatterFly has systems that can alert Sysops to potentially serious conversations or behaviour, including concerns involving abuse, racism, self-harm and other safety issues, so they can be reviewed where appropriate.
Blocking helps identify patterns
Members can block unwanted contact. Individual blocks remain private, but Sysops and administrators can see when an account has been blocked by multiple members, helping us identify patterns of behaviour that may require review.
No private chatroom messages
Chatrooms do not contain private messages, whispers or hidden one-to-one conversations. Joining a room gives somebody access to the public conversation - not private access to you.
Connections before messaging
Private messaging is separate from the chatrooms and requires an accepted connection. You decide whether you want to accept connection requests and can end a connection whenever you choose.
No images in private messages
The NatterFly Messaging Centre is deliberately text only. Members cannot send image attachments or photographs through private messages, reducing the risk of receiving unsolicited or inappropriate images.
Human moderation
Room owners and hosts can deal with disruptive behaviour within their rooms, while NatterFly Sysops and administrators can respond to wider community and safety concerns.
Reporting serious concerns
Members can report abuse, harassment, threats, scams, grooming, impersonation, hate and other serious concerns for review by the NatterFly moderation team.
Persistent abuse can mean removal
Where moderation information shows persistent inappropriate behaviour or serious misuse of NatterFly, accounts may be warned, restricted, suspended or permanently terminated.
NatterFly is intended for adults aged 18 and over. Our aim is to provide several layers of protection while still allowing genuine members to meet, chat, make friends and enjoy the community.
Community-led moderation
Every member-created chatroom has an owner. Owners can appoint trusted people to help welcome members, guide conversations and deal with disruptive behaviour.
Depending on their permissions, room owners, hosts and operators can:
- Welcome and assist new members.
- Keep conversations friendly and on topic.
- Remove spam and inappropriate content.
- Mute disruptive users.
- Kick or ban people who repeatedly break the rules.
- Use automated Chat Manager scripts.
Group owners and managers can also look after discussions, members, invitations, events, albums and polls within their own communities.
Automated chat protection
NatterFly supports Chat Manager scripts that can help room teams manage busy conversations and respond to common problems automatically.
Available scripts and controls can include:
- Flood and repeated-message protection.
- Spam and advertising controls.
- Language filtering.
- Excessive capital-letter warnings.
- Link filtering.
- Automatic warnings, mutes, removals and bans.
- Welcome messages and room information.
- Fun Bot Talk, jokes and interactive scripts.
- Custom scripts created for individual rooms.
Automation helps deal with straightforward problems quickly, while serious reports and important decisions remain subject to human review.
Create a community around your interests
Everyone has something they enjoy talking about. NatterFly gives members the tools to create spaces around those interests.
A group could be built around:
- A town, city or local area.
- Cars, motorcycles or transport.
- Music, radio or entertainment.
- Gaming and technology.
- Photography, art or creative projects.
- Walking, travel and outdoor activities.
- Pets and animals.
- Sports, clubs and social activities.
- General friendship and conversation.
When the room or group you are looking for does not already exist, you can create it and invite others to help it grow.
A place for real people
Many modern platforms are designed around numbers: followers, views, reactions, reach and engagement.
NatterFly is designed around people.
We want to encourage:
- Friendly and respectful conversation.
- Humour and personality.
- Inclusion and community spirit.
- Member-created rooms and groups.
- Sharing interests and helping others.
- Familiar faces returning regularly.
Reporting concerns
Members can report abuse, harassment, threats, grooming, scams, impersonation, hate, illegal content and other serious concerns through the NatterFly support system.
Where possible, reports should include the username, chatroom or group name, date, approximate time and a screenshot showing the relevant conversation or content.
Reports are reviewed by NatterFly staff, who may remove content, restrict accounts, suspend members, close rooms or take other action where reasonably necessary.
Built to grow with its members
NatterFly is continually developing. New features, improvements, scripts and community tools are introduced as the platform grows.
Member feedback plays an important part in that development. Suggestions help shape what is improved, what is added and how the community works in the future.
Welcome to our community
Whether you stay for five minutes or become one of the community's familiar faces, we are glad you are here. If you're aged 18 or over, Grab a cuppa, join a room, say hello and make yourself at home.
Our Promise
We know that no online community can completely eliminate bad behaviour. There will always be people who choose not to follow the rules or respect others.
What we can do is make NatterFly a place where abusive behaviour is far more difficult to hide, where members can report concerns easily, and where room owners, moderators and site staff have the tools they need to act quickly and fairly.
At the same time, we want genuine members to feel comfortable chatting, meeting new people, creating communities and becoming part of something enjoyable.