Instant+Message

=Instant Message=

Author: Natalie Chan

Instant Messaging, abbreviated form: IM, is a form of conversation that is conducted online, which is text-based, and messages sent out are received almost instantly. The messaging could be between two are more people using computers and other electronic devices. Instant messaging is like a form of real life chatting where the only difference is that the conversation are all in written text form and that the conversation is not conducted face to face.

The beginning of this new concept dated back from around the 1970s, where it started off only "allowing people to chat with other users of the same computer or a machine connected on a local network at their respective university." One of the first instant messaging systems was named Freelancing' Roundtable. Starting from the 1990s, more IM applications emerged to the community, such as Quantum Link (name later changed to AOL) (early 1900s), ICQ (1996), AIM (1997), Yahoo! Messenger (1998), MSN (1999), Google Talk (2005), and many others that were launched during the 2000s.

This concept appeals to people from all age groups, from children to teens to adults.