Instant Messaging

 

 

-Instant Messaging is the act of instantly communicating between two or more people over a network such as the internet. The first instant messaging system developed was known as PLATO. Later, the UNIX/LINUX "talk" messaging systems were widely used by engineers and academics in the 1980s and 1990s to communicate across the internet.

           

 -Instant messaging differs from email in that instant messaging allows users to communicate in realtime. As a result of having realtime communication, IM requires that both users be logged onto their IM service at the same time in order to communicate.  Also, instant messaging, as opposed to email, allows one to know when others are currently online and thus allows one to instantly identify whether or not another user received one’s message. Email can require several minutes to be sent and received while instant messaging can occur almost instantaneously. In modern instant messaging services, the other party in the conversation generally only sees each line of text right after a new line is started. With email, users will see the entire message when it is sent to another user. Instant messaging is thus more like a telephone conversation while email is more like sending someone a letter.

 

 -Instant messaging includes many special features that email does not have. For example IM services include a buddy list, a list of users that you might want to communicate with via instant messaging. Buddy Lists allow users to know when others log onto or off of their IM services.IM services also have status messages, messages that appear automatically to other users if they attempt to make contact. These status messages include a description of where the person is or what they are doing at a particular moment. IM services also include avatars, icons that are associated with an IM account.

 

 - Instant Messaging also differs from telephone conversations in several important ways. In contrast to phones, instant messaging allows the parties to know when the other user is available. Additionally, telephone conversations force one to reply immediately to another’s message. With instant messaging, one does not have to immediately reply to another’s message. This way, communication via instant messaging can be less intrusive than phone conversations.