"More than 100 million people now use this form of communication. In less than five years, instant messaging has become the most powerful and widely used real-time communication tool since the telephone."
—Business Week Online, 24 August 2000
To use instant messaging, you need a computer (PC or Mac) and Internet access. To use voice features, you'll need a sound card and a microphone. Video requires a camera. The experience would be more enjoyable if you had a bazillion dollars and kids who behaved well, but neither is required.
What Is Instant Messaging?
Instant messaging is just what it sounds like—it is a cool way to type messages back and forth between two or more people with immediate give and take of ideas. It has two parts. One part is a program running on a personal computer that allows the user to send and receive short messages and chats. This program is a free download. I'll refer to all of this activity as "IM" because they don't call them instant chatting programs.
The other part is a server that keeps track of which "members" are online. Signing up for these servers is generally free, and so is the program you download. When you sign up, you will need to choose a username and a password. You will be completely amazed by what names are already taken, and the idea of getting your first choice of a username is a concept from the 20th century.
When you log on, the server lets you see which of your friends are online, and you can type messages that go directly to their computers, without going to a server first.
Name Two of Them
There are 40 IM programs. Most reviews cover four main ones, but that's misleading. AOL, the 800-pound gorilla of IM, has 90 percent of the traffic with its three programs. AIM is part of the basic AOL program; AOL Instant Messenger is a similar-looking program that can be used by AOL and non-AOL users. I don't recommend that AOL users or anyone use the AIM program, but that they use the AOL Instant Messenger program instead, which I'll abbreviate as AIM the rest of this article.
ICQ (I Seek You) is a different IM program that AOL acquired from Mirabilis. The statistical estimates vary widely, from 30 million users for AIM and 40 million for ICQ to as high as 110 million for the two combined. In numbers of users, Yahoo Messenger (YM) is third and Microsoft Messenger (MSM) is fourth, but they and the other 36 programs are splitting up 10-15 percent of the market. I think of small poodles barking fiercely. I recommend that you at least try ICQ because I think it is the coolest program that does the most things. One of them is that you can see the other person type (and backspace) in real time—even if they're in Australia and you're not.
You do not have to subscribe to AOL to use AIM (it is even a part of Netscape Communicator—also acquired by AOL), or to MSN to use MSM.
When It Works, What Does It Do?
For the most part, these programs work the same way. You register for free, download the program, and then start setting up your list of contacts. Typically, you would already know someone on the service you choose, but you can also search for buddies, and on ICQ you can choose to chat with a person at random. When your friends come online, you send them messages.
It's quick, and it keeps you in contact with people you're close to. These programs can also check to see if you have e-mail waiting in your regular mailbox, and can handle chat with small groups. I've heard estimates of four to seven people max before the connection craters from too many people at once. It's also fun to watch your friends sign on and to chat with them briefly—as if you were seeing them in the street or over the back fence.
These companies are adding features all the time. AIM supports image transfer. AIM, ICQ, and MSM can work like a phone. I suspect that these features will soon be part of all IM programs.
ICQ has an extra step in setup. If you add a contact, ICQ sends them a message asking for their authorization before you can add them to your list. This security feature is nice, but it has a price. See "What If I Change Computers?" below. ICQ also allows you to send messages through its server if the other person is not online at the time.
What's the Downside?
Well, privacy. When you register for a service, you create a profile about yourself that others can see. One should be careful what one puts there. Also, you should be aware that there are people out there who are not using the Internet for family history, and that some of them might approach you when you're online. Don't take candy from strangers. Don't get into a car with anyone you don't know.
When you set up your profile, think about it. As Heidi Anderson wrote in the Smart Computing guide to e-mail, "While 'Yankeesrule@domain.com' might be your way of expressing yourself, it may also open the floodgates to unwanted instant messages from others."
Also, learn whether your program has a "do not disturb" or an "invisibility" feature. You may want to use them at times.
A bigger downside is the lack of compatibility between programs. Users of one program can't chat with users of the others. Microsoft tried to get to the AIM users, but AOL blocked it. AOL's reason is that Microsoft sells ads on its site, and AOL has to maintain security and control over that. There is talk of creating an IM standard, and if you ask me, it would be a great idea if they would just get it done tomorrow. Meantime, you will want to use what your friends are using.
How Do I Know If It Isn't Working?
One of the nice things about instant messaging is that it's instant. If you have a problem sending a message to someone, you'll know it right away. These programs install pretty reliably, and I've never seen one break. Features beyond text messaging, such as voice and video, can be very tricky to set up, and I couldn't find space to address them here.
What If I Change Computers?
If you change computers, you will have to follow a process like this. Re-download the program from the Web. Install it. Remember your username and password—you can keep those on the new machine. Your contact list will be on the old machine, and you'll have to re-enter them. AOL is talking about letting you store your preferences and lists on its server so you can IM from any computer with the program on it.
Your ICQ contacts will have to re-authorize you before you can add them to your contacts.
Where's the Genealogical Tie-in?
I can imagine researchers, families, and societies using these tools to stay in touch. They are very easy to use, and it's really satisfying to chat with your relatives across the country without paying a long-distance fee. I chat with my parents and my children.
Link Me Up (more stars is better)
All of these sites have download links and helpful information.
What Else?
There are PDA (personal digital assistant, like Palm PilotTM) versions of these programs now. There are also Windows CE versions and Unix versions of some of them. It is likely that you will see many of these features merge with those of pagers and that there will be a cellphone/Palm Pilot messaging program that can send and receive messages from any of the popular services . . . possibly before your kids learn to behave.
Beau Sharbrough is the president of GENTECH, the founder of the GENTECH and FGS Web sites, and a founder of the Lexicon Working Group. He would like to hear from you at beau@sharbrough.net, but due to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer every e-mail message received. Please note that he cannot assist you with your individual computer problems. Visit Beau's Web site for information about speaking engagements. Beau is the father of two college-age girls and is another insufferable graduate of Texas A&M University.
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