Synchronous text-based ‘chat’ is a key element in people’s social use of the Internet. I must admit I am stoked at how easy it has been to meet classmates through the “Open University Internet Studies” public chat.

Whilst I have been a user of several incarnations of MSN/Hotmail/Windows/Live Messenger, I got rather annoyed when that nudge feature was introduced. Can anyone tell me which 4-year-old has the programming nous to put that feature in? I’d like to nudge that brat! Since the capability to turn them off is now available, why are they turned on by default? Yes, I love it when you piss me off. Oh, do it again, please.

Instant messaging offers the opportunity to contact friends who are online, without needing to arrange to meet them in some public space. This convenience and the zero financial cost factor to users, has given to its rise in popularity over other internet communications. Combining text with high quality audio and video capabilities in programs such as Skype, is a brilliant way for bringing people together in much the same way as web 2.0 is linking people, sharing, collaborating, etcetera.

The individual task

- requires us to download something like ICQ 14MB and install - mental note: uninstall as soon as we’re done. There’s the usual array of annoying defaults to turn off. I’m a little perplexed at how we’re supposed to find classmates to contact without going through other channels such as the Skype public chat! So I create yet another personal account on a barren server. The maximum character width won’t let me complete the answer to my secret question:

What is the title of your favorite movie?

A few more hoops, the email registration has to be retrieved from junk mail and clicked to activate. Next, the garbage screen. Now, how on earth do I find anyone? Searching for classmates by name gives too many results…

Let’s see. We have the Game Center, change your sounds, some advertisement at the bottom, a phone call tab, some other services are coming up, and last but not least, Instant Match - love may be closer than you think! Can we cram any more unwanted crap in here?

What’s with the guitar from hell when I add a contact?

Thank you Cynthia. I should have read the discussion board earlier, I know. ICQ lasted about 14 minutes before the uninstall was complete. Finally, onto the tasks at hand.

If you want a chat program with dating, games, colourful advertising, wonderful sounds, bells and whistles then look no further. The benefits of ICQ are for you.

I’ve stripped tabs, nudges, Windows Live Today and as many other annoyances as possible from my Windows Live Messenger (WLM) installation. Just as capable of distraction as ICQ, WLM seems much subtler in the advertising. Its popularity came about with the connection to ubiquitous @hotmail.com email accounts.

Both WLM and Skype are running quietly in bottom corner of my screen. In terms of text chat, Skype has 2 significant advantages for me:

• time zone information displayed with each contact - very handy
• public chat, and chat notification settings to filter alerts - brilliant

Having had many text chat conversations with classmates, family and friends, I’ve found it is:

1. easy to be self distracted, multi-tasking doesn’t work for me (I’m male)
2. easy to forget some contacts are in a different time zone (and vice versa)
3. sometimes difficult to convey/comprehend tone
4. easy to lose focus in multi-threaded conversations (for both 1-to-1 and many-to-many)

From the audiences I’ve listed above, and as Robert Crane pointed out, text chat isn’t being used much in business. Regardless, I’ve established it to be a marvellous communication tool for the given crowds.