MODULE 2 - Chat

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Not having much experience with any chat programmes, I signed up with Yahoo, MSN, ICQ and later, Pidgin. After chatting several times with different groups of my fellow students I came to the following conclusions:

• The majority prefer MSN and believe that it's more stable and more reliable when using micropones and cameras etc, next came Pidgin and then ICQ and Yahoo. Many people agreed that they get thrown out of Yahoo too often.
• Pidgin allows you to see all of your contacts online no matter which chat they use.
• I like MSN for variety and reliability eg: sending pics or music etc. Yahoo for environment, Pidgin for accessibility to contacts and ICQ for basic chatting needs.
• I learned a little about IMVU. Apparently it's a 3D chat environment and it's good for better interaction.
• Skype also seemed to be popular but I don't know much about it yet other than it is good for cheap phone calls and you can use it on Yahoo.

I was fascinated with all these chat spaces and the things they can do, basically all the same if you just want to chat. Excellent because everything is instant, it's almost like talking to face to face, even more so if you have webcam.

The internet, email, instant messaging...they really have opened up a whole new way of communicating. I can see how it can impact both positively and negatively on our society. On the plus side, you can converse with people all around the world, meet new people all around the world and it's much cheaper than phone calls. It must be amazing for disabled people who can't get out and about much. The down side, you can become very reclusive!