Online Social Networking

Instant Messaging
With instant messaging, you create a list of 'buddies' or contacts and can communicate with them instantly...as long as they are online and signed in. (Be careful to only add/accept buddies you know.) When you send a message, a small window opens up; this is where you and your friend can type in messages that both of you can see. This type of communication is much like a phone conversation, except you'll be typing instead of speaking. Instant messaging is unlike chat rooms where everyone online can see your message. Most instant messengers required registration and downloading some files.

• AIM Messenger - Several versions available for download.
• Google Talk - They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free–anytime, anywhere in the world.
• ICQ  - Everybody. Everywhere.
• MSN Messenger - MSN Web Messenger lets you talk online and in real-time with friends and family using just a web browser! Use it on any shared computer - at school, at work, at a friend's house or anywhere you can't install the MSN Messenger software.
• MySpaceIM - Got IM? Get MySpaceIM.
• Yahoo Messenger - Now with Voice!

Online Chat Links
One of the most interactive uses of the Internet (and some say the most addictive) comes in the form of online chat. This allows an Internet user to download some special software, or point their browser at a specific URL, and go into virtual "rooms" filled with other people who (presumably) have the same interests as they do. A word of caution, however: One of the Internet's biggest strengths, as well as one of its largest drawbacks, is the fact that people can assume any personality they wish. Young people with good ideas can achieve Internet fame without being written off as young and impetuous, or adults can behave like small children, and be treated as such. On the Internet, you are who you say you are. For this reason, be careful of divulging personal information in a chat room, as you never know what kind of person is on the other end. Here at QCOL, we'd like to keep you as a customer, not lose you to a foolish and easily preventable mistake in who you choose to trust. Also, if you choose to participate in online chat, please be a good citizen, as complaints directed against you as a result of IRC behavior, if substantiated, could result in account termination.


Web-Based Chat
For those who are uncomfortable or just don't want to bother installing a dedicated IRC client, there are web sites that provide online chat facilities, with text or graphical interfaces. The only ones we'll link here are those that use Java, a (reasonably) cross-platform programming language used primarily on the web. The older, CGI-based chat pages are truly outclassed by Java's capacity for real-time interactivity.

• Yahoo Chat - This famous search site offers a popular chat room too.
• AOL Chat - Submitted by a QCOL member.
• Talk City - Over 50+ chat servers located in California.
• OnChat - OnChat is a graphical chat community. Graphical chat adds a new dimension to traditional chat in that the experience is much more visual. Chat rooms are pictures, not text. A small graphic, called an avatar, represents each user. 
• ICQ Chat - A variety of chat rooms. Something for everyone.