What is instant messaging?
Q: What is instant messaging?
A: Instant messaging is a way of two or more people to communicate over a network by sending and receiving messages through messaging clients.
Q: How are messages sent in instant messaging?
A: When the sender sends a message, the message is sent to all the recipients in the group.
Q: What types of messages are supported in instant messaging?
A: The type of message supported depends on the specific client and network, but most of the time, it is text with some clients also supporting images or other types of media.
Q: What was the inspiration for instant messaging services?
A: Instant messaging services got inspiration from an older and still popular way to online chat named Internet Relay Chat (IRC).
Q: How was instant messaging different in its early days?
A: In early instant messaging programs, each letter appeared when it was typed and when letters were deleted to correct typos, they were also seen by the reader, making it more like a telephone conversation than sending letters.
Q: How is instant messaging different now?
A: In newer instant messaging programs, the other readers in the conversation generally only see each line of text right after a new line is started.
Q: What is the purpose of a status message in instant messaging?
A: Most instant messaging programs have a way to set a status message which works like a message on a telephone answering machine, showing whether or not people are online and available to chat.
