Online chat
Online chat can refer to any kind of
communication over the
internet, but is primarily meant to refer to direct 1 on 1 chat or
chat rooms, using tools such as
instant messaging applications—
computer programs,
Internet Relay Chat,
talkers and possibly
MUDs,
MUCKs,
MUSHes and
MOOes.
A MUD, or a multi-user dungeon, is a multi-user version of
dungeons and dragons for the internet, and is an early use of the internet. In a MUD, as well as playing the game, people can chat to each other. Talkers were originally based off MUDs and the earliest versions of talkers were primarily MUDs without the gaming element. Other derivations of MUDs were used that combined gaming with talking, and these include
MUSHes,
MOOs and
MUCKs.
Discussion boards
Besides
real-time chat, another type of online community includes
Internet forums and
bulletin board systems (BBSes), where users write posts (blocks of text) to which later visitors may respond. Unlike the transient nature of chats, these systems generally
archive posts and save them for weeks or years. They can be used for technical
troubleshooting,
advice, general conversation and more.
General terms
*
Chat room*
Voice chat* VoIP
Voice over IP*
Live support softwareProtocols/Programs
*
Talker*
Internet Relay Chat*
ICQ*
Instant messenger*
PalTalk*
Talk (Unix)*
MUD*
MUSH*
MOO*
Google Talk*
Yahoo! Messenger*
SkypeChat programs supporting multiple protocols
*
Gaim*
Miranda IM
