Editing Instant messaging (section)

{{Short description|Form of computer communication over the internet or locally}}
[[File:Gossip-chat.png|thumb|A classic example of instant messaging on a desktop computer: the left window of this software showing a list of contacts ("[[buddy list]]") and the right window an active IM conversation]]
[[File:Online N'ko classroom via WhatsApp (cropped).jpg|thumb|328x328px|An example of instant messaging on mobile, featuring the exchange of pictures and audio on top of text]]
'''Instant messaging''' ('''IM''') technology is a type of [[synchronous computer-mediated communication]] involving the immediate ([[Real-time computing|real-time]]) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the [[Internet]] or another [[computer network]]. Originally involving simple [[Text messaging|text message]] exchanges, modern IM [[application (computing)|applications]] and services (also called "social messengers", "messaging apps", "chat apps" or "chat clients") tend to also feature the exchange of multimedia, [[emoji]]s, [[file transfer]], [[voice over IP|VoIP (voice calling)]], and [[Videotelephony|video chat]] capabilities.

Instant messaging systems facilitate connections between specified known users<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Instant Messaging? - Definition from SearchUnifiedCommunications |url=https://www.techtarget.com/searchunifiedcommunications/definition/instant-messaging |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=Unified Communications |language=en}}</ref> (often using a contact list also known as a "buddy list" or "friend list") or in [[chat room]]s, 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]]. Originally the term "instant messaging" was distinguished from "[[text messaging]]" by being run on a computer network instead of a [[cellular phone|cellular/mobile]] network, being able to write longer messages, real-time communication, [[Presence information|presence]] ("status"), and being free (only cost of access instead of per [[SMS]] message sent).<ref name="bbc20030630">{{Cite news |date=2003-06-30 |title=Will instant messaging be the new texting? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3031796.stm |access-date=2024-08-05 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |year=2004 |title=MMS-multi media messaging and MMS-interconnection |url=https://docdb.cept.org/download/353 |publisher=Electronic Communications Committee (ECC)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Foderaro |first=Lisa W. |date=2005-01-09 |title=Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, a Message at a Time |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/technology/young-cell-users-rack-up-debt-a-message-at-a-time.html |access-date=2024-08-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Instant messaging was pioneered in the early Internet era; the [[IRC]] protocol was the earliest to achieve wide adoption.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history-computer.com/software/history-of-irc/|title=History of IRC|date=4 January 2021|access-date=1 August 2021|archive-date=15 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815194328/https://history-computer.com/software/history-of-irc/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Later in the 1990s, [[ICQ]] was among the first closed and commercialized instant messengers, and several rival services appeared afterwards as it became a popular use of the Internet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/evolution-instant-messaging/|title = The Evolution of Instant Messaging|date = 17 November 2016}}</ref> Beginning with its first introduction in 2005, [[BlackBerry Messenger]] became the first popular example of [[Mobile device|mobile]]-based IM, combining features of traditional IM and mobile [[SMS]].<ref name="inverse20230509">{{Cite web |date=2023-05-09 |title=How BlackBerry Messenger Forever Changed the Way We Text |url=https://www.inverse.com/tech/how-blackberry-bbm-changed-messaging-forever |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Inverse |language=en}}</ref><ref name="zdnet">{{Cite web |title=RIP, ICQ: Why all instant messaging disappears (in the end) |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/icq-rip-why-all-instant-messaging-disappears-in-the-end/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=ZDNET |language=en}}</ref> Instant messaging remains very popular today; IM apps are the most widely used [[smartphone]] apps: in 2018 for instance there were 980 million [[monthly active users]] of [[WeChat]] and 1.3 billion monthly users of [[WhatsApp]], the largest IM network.