Instant messaging IM technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate real-time transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involving simple text message exchanges, modern IM applications and services also called "social messengers", "messaging apps", "chat apps" or "chat clients" tend to also feature the exchange of multimedia, emojis , file transfer , VoIP voice calling , and video chat capabilities.
Instant messaging systems facilitate connections between specified known users [ 1 ] often using a contact list also known as a "buddy list" or "friend list" or in chat rooms , and can be standalone apps or integrated into a wider social media platform, or in a website where it can, for instance, be used for conversational commerce.
Instant messaging was pioneered in the early Internet era; the IRC protocol was the earliest to achieve wide adoption. Instant messaging IM , sometimes also called "messaging" or " texting ", consists of computer-based human communication between two users private messaging or more chat room or "group" in real-time, allowing immediate receipt of acknowledgment or reply.
This is in direct contrast to email , where conversations are not in real-time, and the perceived quasi- synchrony of the communications by the users [ 9 ] although many systems allow users to send offline messages that the other user receives when logging in.
Earlier IM networks were limited to text-based communication, not dissimilar to mobile text messaging. As technology has moved forward, IM has expanded to include voice calling using a microphone , videotelephony using webcams , file transfer, [ 10 ] location sharing, image and video transfer, voice notes, and other features. Primary IM services are controlled by their corresponding companies and usually follow the client-server model. Modern IM services generally provide their own client, either a separately installed software or a browser-based client.
