IM

Updated: 08/02/2020 by Reckoner Promise

IM or instant messenger

IM is short for instant message, which is a message directly sent from one person to another. IM is also short for Instant Messenger, which is a program that connects users to the Internet or network to send text messages. When used equally a verb, IM (instant messaging) is the human action of sending a message and chatting in an IM program.

Annotation

The term "Instant Messenger" is a trademark owned by Time Warner that should only exist used when describing AOL IM software.

Dissimilar chat with multiple people talking at once, IM requires an IM client (program) and just allows you to directly talk with someone online and in your buddy list. With these programs, you lot are notified when a friend is online and available to chat.

Examples of IM software

Below is a short listing of IM software that is or was bachelor for a computer. In the early 2000s, instant messenger programs became less and less popular as social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, began using social messaging apps. Today, most instant messaging happens through social network apps.

  • AOL AIM (ICQ) - Airtight on December 15, 2017.
  • Discord
  • Gadu-Gadu - https://www.gadu-gadu.pl/ (Polish language)
  • Gaim - became Pidgin.
  • Google Talk - Discontinued in May 2013.
  • Jabber
  • Pidgin
  • QQ (OICQ) - http://world wide web.qq.com/ (Chinese language)
  • Skype
  • Windows Live Messenger - Moved to Skype.
  • Yahoo! Messenger - Discontinued in 2018.
ICQ IM

The image is an example graphic of what ICQ looked like, which was one of the starting time widely used Internet instant messenger programs.

Because the companies supporting and developing IM software are competitors, there frequently is no compatibility between them. If you're on AIM and you take a friend using MSN, you lot cannot talk together. Programs like Trillian and Gaim (now called Pidgin) were created to allow users to accept any instant messengers in the same program. Still, these types of programs however operate over dissimilar networks.

Examples of messaging apps

Every bit more people use smartphones and social networking, messaging apps have become the most pop way to message family and friends. Beneath is a listing of a few of the most popular messaging apps used today.

  • Blackberry Messenger - Discontinued in 2019
  • Facebook Messenger
  • iMessage
  • Kik
  • Line
  • Snapchat
  • WeChat
  • WhatsApp

AIM, Buddy list, Conversation, Conversation terms, Figurer acronyms, DM, Gaim, Google, ICQ, Internet, Cyberspace terms, Jabber, Bulletin, Messenger, Pidgin, Skype, Trillian