What is Chat?
A
chat is a real time online conversation between many computer users. All
participants must be in front of their computer at the same time. The chat takes
place in a "chat room", a virtual online room also called a channel. Users type
their messages, and their messages appear on the monitor as text entries that
scroll many screens deep. Anywhere from 2 to 200 people can be in a chat room.
They can freely send, receive and reply to messages from many chat users
simultaneously. It is like instant messaging, but with more than two people,
fast typing, fast scrolling screens, and most of the people are strangers to
each other. Chat used to be very popular in the late 1990's, but has fallen out
of vogue lately. Fewer and fewer people use chat; instead, instant messaging,
discussion forums, and blogs are far more popular in 2008.