instant messaging

Exchanging text messages in real time between two or more people logged into an instant messaging (IM) service. Unlike email, messages are sent immediately, whereas email can be queued up in a mail server for seconds or minutes. However, there is no elaborate page layout: type a brief message and press Enter. Some IM services provide video calling, file sharing and PC-to-phone calling and allow users to switch back and forth. See text messaging vs. instant messaging.

Contact List (Buddy List)
To use instant messaging, people add the usernames of the friends and colleagues they want to communicate with. After logging in to the IM service, everyone in their list may be alerted providing they allow notifications. Each system has its own method for blocking incoming messages.

The IM Services
Instant messaging (IM) became popular after Israeli-based ICQ debuted in 1996, which was later acquired by AOL. There are more than three dozen IM services, and WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, TenCent QQ, Line, Telegram, Skype and Snapchat are some of the largest.

IM programs initially connected only to members of the same service. However, IM clients such as Trillian and Simple Instant Messenger were designed to interface with multiple IM services. XMPP and Matrix are open protocols for instant messaging (see Jabber, XMPP and Matrix protocol).

Short and Sweet

This is a typical IM interaction using the earlier Google Talk service. The user's picture can be real or selected from a list (see avatar). Google Talk was replaced (see Google Chat).

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References in periodicals archive

Additional time for focusing on the editing practice may be needed if students are mentioning that this is taking them longer because of the need to eliminate surface level errors, some of which may be caused by the Instant Messaging practice.

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For teens, instant messaging extends opportunities to communicate with friends and expands their social world, Kraut suggests.

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"Our flagship clients requested a secure instant messaging solution for Linux.

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* Written policies: Clearly and explicitly define the acceptable and unacceptable uses of instant messaging within the business environment

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Deployment of real-time collaboration, presence and instant messaging (IM) solutions are on the rise as enterprises strive to communicate more effectively, efficiently, and provide better tools to make good business decisions, as corporations move to the next level of productivity improvements.

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"We've been using instant messaging for more than two years," says Rich Shoenfelt, Celina's chief information officer.

Instant upside, instant downside: the advantages of instant-messaging software programs are their immediacy. The drawbacks, of course, are often just as immediate as well. As a result, the use of instant messaging among workers is creating a new wave of business, legal and regulatory challenges

Future research should consider measuring the instant messaging experience and usage of the participant to allow comparisons between less or non-experienced IMers and more experienced IMers.

The effects of instant messaging and task difficulty on reading comprehension

resume instant messaging, e-mail and social networking services in Cuba, Iran and Sudan, reports Bloomberg (March 10, 2010).

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Instant messaging (IM) is the second most popular and widely used collaboration and communication tool in business enterprises across Asia Pacific after email, said Springboard Research.

Springboard: IM the top collaboration tool among Asian firms