Voice and text chat are both possible on Steam. You can add friends and chat with them one-on-one or in groups. You can also chat with people you don't know. You can also talk to anyone on the platform in public chat rooms. Remember that not all of these chat groups and online communities are about games. Users are also drawn to Steam by groups about just about anything, from TV to sports to memes. Teens often give each other their handles so they can play games together and talk to their real-life friends. Members of Steam are usually nice, but parents might want to keep an eye on who their kids are following online or talking to.
Family View is a set of advanced controls on Steam that give parents full control over what their kids can do on the platform. Steam has step-by-step instructions on how to set up Family View, which you should read because the interface can be confusing and hard to understand for new users or people who don't play games. But once it's turned on, parents can choose whether their kids can play any game or only games they've approved and added to the Family Game Library. Family View also lets parents decide if their kids can use the Steam store, user-made content, chat, forums, online profiles, or not. All of these features are locked with a PIN, so kids can't just turn them off. You can also set your account preferences to block titles with a lot of violence, gore, nudity, or sexual content and to warn you about mature user-generated content, but these aren't PIN protected.
By default, Steam profiles are public, but you can make your game information, friends list, description, comments, and ownership of a group private or only visible to people on your friends list. Steam also has a security feature called "Steam Guard" that gives an account an extra layer of protection. Hackers can't get into your account if you use an approved email address or two-factor authentication through the Steam mobile app.
You can download and use Steam for free, but many of the games available cost money. Some games are free to play or cost as little as $1, but new games from the biggest and best developers can cost as much as $60~$70 each. Smart gamers can save a lot of money if they wait for one of Steam's many sales. Keep in mind that you can only play games you buy from the Steam store on the Steam network.
Users can buy games and other content from the Steam store using Steam Wallet. Users can either add money to their Steam Wallet with a credit card or buy a physical Steam gift card at a store or supermarket and enter the code to get the money. Using Steam Wallet can be a good way for parents to keep track of how much their kids spend on Steam, especially since some games are expensive to download or have in-game purchases that can add up quickly.