Module Two - Chat

With so many chat programs to choose from it was confusing trying to figure out
which one to use.

Deciding to try a few different ones I signed up with ICQ, Yahoo and MSN.

ICQ
Downloading the program and signing up seemed relatively easy and did not take long at all.

MSN
My children already use this program so it was just a matter of getting and I.D. which was no problems at all.

YAHOO
I already had Yahoo on my computer and had an i.d. so this was also not a problem.

ICQ
I managed to get in touch with a fellow student Peter on ICQ and we chatted for a while.
My main problem was trying to figure out how get in touch with people. The postings on our forum made the ICQ identity problem a lot easier and I now have a number of classmates signed up although I am yet to chat with any except for Peter.

Michelle, one of our class mates has created a group called NET11 which I managed to locate and join. I am yet to have a group discussion and hopefully have not left it too late.

MSN and Yahoo.

Both MSN and Yahoo seems fairly easy to navigate as well. The major difference between these and ICQ is that MSN and Yahoo interlink and you can talk to across the programs whereas ICQ appears to be stand alone. As a result of this MSN and Yahoo are a lot more interactive and accessible however ICQ seems somewhat simpler to use.

Being a regular user of email I can see the pros and cons of both methods of communication. Email seems more direct and easier to record and file. Chat is instantaneous and a group can follow the conversation together.

My overall feelings about chat is that where as it is a useful social tool, it is not suited to serious conversation. It seems to me to be too fragmented and harder to follow.

I am sure once more familiar with chat programs I would be a lot more comfortable using them.


Group Chat
I have had a couple of group conversations using msn and ICQ and we did talk about some of the pros and cons.

Some of the pros that came to light in groups discussions were being able to communicate instantly. Also using chat as a workplace tool to communicate with far flung locations. Another was IRC gave the ability to overcome accents when in normal one on one conversation so that people were on an even level of understanding, especially across different races in different counties.

The cons of IRC were mainly it made for an abbreviated conversation and could be disturbing if you are concentrating on somethings else. Also it came to light that many business have not embraced this or many forms of Internet use probably due to lack of resources and information. One of the cons pointed out was that for someone with slow typing this form of communication
is difficult as they can not keep up with the conversation.

MSN seemed to be the most popular form of chat amongst the class however on a personal note I found ICQ simpler to use, quicker and less intrusive.