Internet Communication: A Closer Look At Instant Messaging

Matt Larson
DTC 375
Jason Farman
1-27-09
WC 971



When the Internet became available email became a popular way of communicating. You could write short or long messages to another person and that person could, in turn, receive them and return the favor in a timely manner. No longer did one need paper, pen, and manually have to hand write a letter. It became so fast and easy. One of the next forms of communication through the Internet that came about was chat rooms. This was a way for a person to be able to join public or private “rooms” on the Internet and type short messages to anyone in that “room.” The messages sent were instantly shown on the other people’s screens. They could then write back in the same fashion. The next communication program over the Internet was Instant Messaging. This mode of communication revolutionized the way we communicate over the Internet today.

When Instant messaging first came to the table, it was very basic and similar to chat rooms only it was much more personal. Instead of having to log into a chat room you logged into your messenger and you could instantly connect to anyone in your list of “friends” as long as they were also logged in. “Friends” being people who you had saved on your list, could be anyone. Family or friends, it could be virtually anyone as long as they were online and used the same instant messenger you could connect with them. All you needed to do was create a screen name, and that was your online identity. Once you were online and connected to another person you could send short messages just like you did in the chat rooms. The messages were received quickly and privately and you could have a full conversation just by typing on your keyboard. Think about how this has changed our lives and what has come about because of it. Now we have cells phones where you can text one another, which is essentially the same thing as an Instant Message only you can send the messages phone to phone. It’s a mobile messenger.

Instant messenger has changed many ways over the years. Just as technology grows and progresses so does instant messaging. This is where instant messaging becomes unique. One example how instant messaging advanced was the adding of emoticons. Emoticons are little faces you can make using certain letters and characters. Some of these include a smiley face, :-), or a frowning face, :-(. These added some fun and variety to the messages and made things more fun and easier on the eyes. It basically added some fun to instant messaging.

These emoticons then began to become even more advanced. They have become more visually stimulating. They have made specific faces to take place of the symbols that were once used. Now the smiley face is this ☺ and the frowning face is ☹. You can see the exact emotion you want to show. As said previously it adds fun to the messages, by giving a break from the reading and visually stimulating them as well. For example if you read the passage, I am sorry. You know the person feels sorry, but if you read the passage with an emoticon, I am sorry ☹, it becomes much more meaningful and the emoticon makes the message sender appear to feel sad about whatever they did. You can recognize how they are feeling at the moment they wrote the message.

Windows Live Messenger, which is a instant messaging program, has implemented flash based emoticons called Winks. These are short flash based messages that can project certain emotions. For example there is a bear that can make a kiss to the other person on the screen in real time, or there is a little boy who gives a devious laugh and then throws a water balloon at you hitting the screen. These are very fun and make the process of typing emoticons even simpler because you don’t even have to type them. Windows Live Messenger has a list of them available for you to click on with your mouse. Also these can be used as an entire message you are trying send as they are a short scene and can convey your message you want to send in one wink. It makes instant messaging even easier than before and can make people laugh to people using them and receiving them.

Lastly, one of the greatest advancements of instant messaging is how you can now video chat. With the coming of high speed internet and webcams and microphones for computers, you can now talk to someone almost like a telephone, except you can see the person your talking to as well. With a microphone and a webcam, you can begin the video chat with another person. Now this does not mean the other person can do the same. You both need to have the equipment to make this possible. In the end this technology has led to other programs, one being Skype. Skype is Voice over the Internet Program or VoiP. These types of programs act as a phone does only it uses high speed internet instead of a phone line. Skype also has video you can use if you have a webcam, as well as your typical instant message program.

As you can see communication over the Internet has come along very well. First starting at email, then progressing to chat rooms, then to instant messaging. In a short amount of time instant messaging has been building upon itself to become a better product. The programs have introduced emoticons, winks, and even video calls where you can chat using a microphone. There is surely to be many more improvements to the instant messaging world and it is sure to become even more popular than it is today.