So what is chat?
A chat is a casual conversation. The term has now become associated mostly with online chat services or computer programs. Chats allow users to converse in real time rather than posting through emails or forums which can result in a delayed response. The history of chat has really evolved over the years.
What kind of chats are there?
There are various types of chat rooms available and many applications and software to access them with. The types can vary depending on programming language. Talkomatic was one of the most primitive forms of chat communication born in 1973. It could only support five users at the same time. Only capable of outputting a single letter at a time. It was quite slow but it was progress. Used primarily for education purposes and did not reach mainstream usage. From there, the birth of Compuserve came. It acted more as a commercial service for users to interact online. It even lead to the first marriage as a direct result of meeting online.
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) was one of the original types being written by a man named Jarkko Oikarinen from Finland in the year 1988. It has been used in over sixty countries around the world and designed as a replacement for the “talk” program. IRC is a multi-user chat system, where people convene on “channels” (a virtual place, usually with a topic of conversation) to talk in groups, or privately. IRC is constantly evolving. Another chat language which has flourished in recent years is Java. It is a programming language utilized to create applications that allow many users to connect in the same environment (chat session). The reason for its widespread use is that it is more stable and customizable than the older Internet Relay Chat systems.
There were many mainstream chat room programs that flourished including AOL around 1992, Prodigy in 1992, and Yahoo which came out in 1997. Adobe Flash was also popular with developers. Flash allowed for further customization, security, and stability then Java chats.
New and more modern “add-on” to user chat sessions are the use of voice and video chat applications. This allows a user to use normal text based chat, but also add a webcam to the conversation to allow for live feed of the person who they are interacting with.
The fall of Flash and what the future holds?
In recent years, due to some security issues, many chat software has been moving away from Flash. Adobe and all major browsers will no longer offer support by the end of 2020. Developers have moved back to Java with further enhancements through cross platform technology such as “Node.js” and websockets. In the future we will be releasing new chats based on this technology. This will allow for a more pleasant chat experience.
Other types of chat systems?
There are many other ways besides chat programs to communicate with other individuals over your computer. The most popular are Instant Messaging systems. They allow users to create a contact list and be able to connect directly through their Instant Messaging application to the individual they are talking to. (the other user must have the same application installed). Some examples of the most popular ones include MSN Messenger, Google Talk and AIM (AOL Instant Messaging) which formed in 1997 and had about 19,000 chat rooms by 1997.
Why are chat rooms around?
Chat rooms are set up to provide the interaction that users require in a live text based (or video chat) format.
Other types of chat features?
Chat rooms now utilize an array of features including webcams, voice chatting, integration with social media websites such as Facebook or Twitter, games, emoticon usages and even gift type systems to help make the user experience better. Many of these features can be found in our free chat community.
Where are chat rooms going? The future.
Chat rooms currently do not have the mainstream use that they had in years past. With platforms such as Friendster and Myspace in the early years, and now Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, chat room usage has decreased. However, there are still many people who prefer the anonymous protection that chat rooms provide. In addition, as more users come online, that number can only increase.