communication processes
technology (new media)
computers and electronic media
cyberculture
social context of relationships
concepts
Instant messaging, also known as IM, is an instantaneous textual communication technology that is free to anyone who has an Internet account and is able to download it. Primarily offered through large Internet service providers and computer conglomerates such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google, the instant messaging tool appears on a computer monitor looking like a box with a list of log-in names (a “buddy list”) and an indication of whether the person who uses the log-in is online and available to chat at the moment. [Source: Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media; Instant Messaging]
internet and communities
instant messaging