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Although instant messaging has been around in some form for decades, it really didn't take off for public consumption until the late 1980s when America Online (AOL)'s predecessor, Quantum Link, offered a user-to-user messaging system. Later instant messaging clients gave you the ability to exchange files and photos and to chat via audio or video. However, the majority of the actual chatting done on messaging services such as AIM, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live is still done by typing text into a chat window. Imagine that instead of typing into a chat window and seeing words pop up on a screen, the conversation takes place in balloons above your head. Well, not your actual head -- the head of an avatar that you create and customize. Your avatar sits on a sofa with other avatars, chatting away. It can laugh at things that are funny, hug someone or show off a dance move. That's the idea behind IMVU, a graphical instant messenger service started in 2004. While many messaging clients allow you to create an avatar, in IMVU, these avatars are three-dimensional, animated and hang out in themed rooms and environments. They can also express moods and perform actions by themselves or with other avatars. It's also a real moneymaker. In addition to offering public and private chat rooms, forums and groups for any interest, IMVU also provides users with a Web page, blog, image gallery and music. Graphic designers can create items and sell them via the site. Intrigued? In this article, we'll look at the basics of navigating IMVU and discover why it's become so popular.
Without instant messaging through Yahoo Messenger and other services, teens would lose a vital social communications tool, and the rest of us wouldn't have an easy way to send and receive messages quickly from our computers or mobile phones. While Yahoo Inc. wan't the first Internet service provider to offer free instant messaging, it is one of the Web's most popular IM services. You can, for example, access contacts and messages anywhere from any Web browser, communicate in any of 40 languages and share photos and large-file Web video. Before we delve further into Yahoo Messenger, let's take a quick look at instant messaging. What exactly is it? Instant messaging allows you to carry on a conversation with someone else via your personal computer. You type in a message, which then travels in digital form over the Internet from your computer through the provider's server to the other person's computer. Within a few seconds, the message appears in an IM window on the recipient's computer screen.
That person reads the message and types back a response. Small, separate IM windows on the screen allow you to carry on conversations with several different people at a time. For more information about instant messaging, check out How Instant Messaging Works. When e-mail contact isn't fast or convenient enough, Internet users turn to IM. Many teens use IM daily to talk to five or six friends at a time while simultaneously listening to music, doing homework and talking on their cell phone. Teens aren't the only group found IM handy. This communications tool also works for business colleagues checking details with sales reps on the road, friends trying to find a time to talk at length and mobile phone users who need to check in with the office or contact each other. The number of IM users worldwide was estimated at 461 million in 2007 and is expected to reach 711 million by 2011, according to the Radicati Group, a market research firm specializing in messaging and collaboration technologies.
Next, let's see how easy it's to get started with Yahoo Messenger. You'll need to download Yahoo Messenger software and complete the Yahoo Messenger sign up before you can use the free instant messaging service to IM your friends or colleagues, and you'll need to set up a messenger list. Go to Yahoo Messenger, and click on "download now" to download the Yahoo Messenger software. Install the software on your computer, following specific directions for your operating system (Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac or Unix). If you don't already have a Yahoo account, sign up for a Yahoo ID. You'll be asked for your name, gender, country, ZIP code and e-mail address. You'll also need to provide your birthday, since Yahoo Messenger isn't available to anyone age 12 or under. After that, you select an ID -- a name to use when you IM -- and a password. You'll also be asked to select and answer a security question (like your first car model or pet's name) that can be used for identification if you forget your password.
Click acceptance of the terms of service and privacy policy, and your account will be set up. Now, you're ready to sign in. You'll see a sign-in screen next. Just enter your Yahoo ID name and password, hit the "sign in" button and you'll be signed in. If you've forgotten your ID or password, click on the statement below the "sign in" button. After you answer some questions to verify your identity, you'll be sent your ID by e-mail or given the option of selecting a new password. To sign out when you're done, just click on the words "sign out" near the upper right of the screen page. While you're signed in, you'll see your messenger list at the left of the screen. This is where you can list up to 300 friends, relatives, co-workers and others that you want to IM with. To add a name, click "Add" at the bottom of the messenger list, and then click "Yahoo Contact" or "Windows Live Contact." Type or paste the person's Yahoo or Windows Live ID in the box that opens at the top of your messenger list.
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