Editing Instant messaging (section)

==History==
{{Timeline of release years
| title = Release years of<br />notable instant messengers
| 1988 = Internet Relay Chat
| 1996 = ICQ
| 1997 = AIM
| 1998 = Yahoo! Messenger
| 1999 = XMPP<br />MSN Messenger
| 2003 = Xfire
| 2009 = WhatsApp
| 2010 = Kik Messenger
| 2011 = Facebook Messenger<br />Snapchat
| 2013 = Telegram
| 2014 = Signal
| 2015 = Discord
|compressempty=yes}}

=== Early systems ===
[[File:PLATO-Talkomatic.png|thumb|2014 recreation screenshot of the original Talkomatic program, released in 1973, on the PLATO system (on an orange plasma display)]]
Though the term dates from the 1990s, instant messaging predates the Internet, first appearing on [[multi-user]] [[operating system]]s like [[Compatible Time-Sharing System]] (CTSS) and Multiplexed Information and Computing Service ([[Multics]])<ref>{{cite book |last=Fetter |first=Mirko |date=2019 |title=New Concepts for Presence and Availability in Ubiquitous and Mobile Computing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=knqIDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22ctss%22+%22write+command%22&pg=PA38 |publisher=[[University of Bamberg]] Press |page=38 |isbn=9783863096236 |quote=The basic concept of sending instantaneously messages to logged in users came with ... CTSS ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Tom Van Vleck |url=http://www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html |title=Instant Messaging on CTSS and Multics |publisher=Multicians.org |access-date=2012-05-11}}</ref> in the mid-1960s. Initially, some of these systems were used as notification systems for services like printing, but quickly were used to facilitate communication with other users logged into the same machine. CTSS facilitated communication via text message for up to 30 people.<ref name="gitbooks">{{Cite web|url=https://towcenter.gitbooks.io/guide-to-chat-apps/content/introductionthe_dawn_of/a_brief_history.html|title=A Brief History of Chat Apps · Guide to Chat Apps|website=towcenter.gitbooks.io|access-date=2020-03-23}}</ref>

Parallel to instant messaging were early [[online chat]] facilities, the earliest of which was [[Talkomatic]] (1973) on the [[PLATO (computer system)|PLATO]] system, which allowed 5 people to chat simultaneously on a 512 x 512 plasma display (5 lines of text + 1 status line per person). During the [[bulletin board system]] (BBS) phenomenon that peaked during the 1980s, some systems incorporated chat features which were similar to instant messaging; Freelancin' Roundtable was one prime example. The first<ref>CompuServe Innovator Resigns After 25 Years, The Columbus Dispatch, May 11, 1996, p. 2F</ref> such general-availability commercial online chat service (as opposed to PLATO, which was educational) was the CompuServe [[CB Simulator]] in 1980,<ref>Wired and Inspired, The Columbus Dispatch (Business page), by Mike Pramik, November 12, 2000</ref> created by [[CompuServe]] executive Alexander "Sandy" Trevor in [[Columbus, Ohio]].

As networks developed, the protocols spread with the networks. Some of these used a [[peer-to-peer]] protocol (e.g. [[talk (software)|talk]], ntalk and ytalk), while others required peers to connect to a server (see [[talker]] and [[IRC]]). The [[Zephyr (protocol)|Zephyr Notification Service]] (still in use at some institutions) was invented at MIT's [[Project Athena]] in the 1980s to allow service providers to locate and send messages to users.

[[File:Unix talk screenshot 01.png|thumb|[[Command-line]] Unix "[[talk (software)|talk]]", using a split screen [[user interface]], was popular in the 1980s and early 1990s.]]
Early instant messaging programs were primarily [[real-time text]], where characters appeared as they were typed. This includes the Unix [[talk (software)|"talk"]] command line program, which was popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. Some BBS chat programs (i.e. Celerity BBS) also used a similar interface. Modern implementations of real-time text also exist in instant messengers, such as AOL's Real-Time IM<ref>{{cite web |url=http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/microsite.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=223568 |title=AOL Instant Messenger's Real-Time IM feature |publisher=Help.aol.com |access-date=2012-05-11 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312102140/http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/microsite.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=223568 |archive-date=March 12, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> as an optional feature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.realjabber.org/real_time_text_demo.html |title=RealJabber.org's animation of real-time text |publisher=Realjabber.org |access-date=2012-05-11 |archive-date=2013-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026143351/http://realjabber.org/real_time_text_demo.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the latter half of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the [[Quantum Link]] online service for [[Commodore 64]] computers offered user-to-user messages between concurrently connected customers, which they called "On-Line Messages" (or OLM for short), and later "FlashMail." Quantum Link later became [[America Online]] and made [[AOL Instant Messenger]] (AIM, discussed later). While the Quantum Link client software ran on a [[Commodore 64]], using only the Commodore's [[PETSCII]] text-graphics, the screen was visually divided into sections and OLMs would appear as a yellow bar saying "Message From:" and the name of the sender along with the message across the top of whatever the user was already doing, and presented a list of options for responding.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.qlinklives.org/qlink-old/liz1.jpg |title=Screenshot of a Quantum Link OLM |access-date=2012-05-11 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619055644/http://www.qlinklives.org/qlink-old/liz1.jpg |archive-date=June 19, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> As such, it could be considered a type of [[graphical user interface]] (GUI), albeit much more primitive than the later [[X Window System|Unix]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] and [[Macintosh]] based GUI IM software. OLMs were what Q-Link called "Plus Services" meaning they charged an extra per-minute fee on top of the monthly Q-Link access costs.

Development of the [[Internet Relay Chat]] (IRC) protocol began in 1989, and this would become the Internet's first widespread instant messaging standard.<ref name="zmescience20181109">{{Cite web |last=Andrei |first=Mihai |date=2018-11-09 |title=The Internet Relay Chat (IRC) turned 30 -- and it probably changed our lives |url=https://www.zmescience.com/science/internet-relay-chat-irc-08112018/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=ZME Science |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Graphical messengers ===
Modern, Internet-wide, [[Graphical user interface|GUI]]-based messaging clients as they are known today, began to take off in the mid-1990s with [[PowWow (chat program)|PowWow]], [[ICQ]], and [[AOL Instant Messenger]] (AIM). Similar functionality was offered by [[CU-SeeMe]] in 1992; though primarily an audio/video chat link, users could also send textual messages to each other. [[AOL]] later acquired [[Mirabilis (company)|Mirabilis]], the authors of ICQ; establishing dominance in the instant messaging market.<ref name="gitbooks" /> A few years later ICQ (then owned by AOL) was awarded two patents for instant messaging by the [[U.S. patent office]]. Meanwhile, other companies developed their own software; ([[Excite (web portal)|Excite]], [[MSN|Microsoft (MSN)]], [[Ubique (company)|Ubique]], and [[Yahoo!]]), each with its own [[proprietary protocol]] and [[software client|client]]; users therefore had to run multiple client applications if they wished to use more than one of these networks. However, the open protocol IRC continued to be popular by the millennium, and its most popular graphical app was [[mIRC]].<ref name="zmescience20181109" />

While instant messaging was mainly in use for consumer recreational purposes, in 1998, [[IBM]] launched their [[IBM Lotus Sametime|Lotus Sametime]] instant messenger software, the first popular example of enterprise-grade instant messaging.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tay |first=Liz |date=2008-07-08 |title=IBM touts unification of consumer and business communication tools |url=https://www.itnews.com.au/news/ibm-touts-unification-of-consumer-and-business-communication-tools-116231 |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=iTnews}}</ref> In 2000, an [[open-source software|open-source application]] and [[open standards]]-based protocol called [[Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol]] (XMPP) was launched, initially branded as ''Jabber''. XMPP servers could act as gateways to other IM protocols, reducing the need to run multiple clients.<ref>{{Cite web |title=XMPP |url=https://xmpp.org/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=xmpp.org}}</ref>

[[Video calling]] using a [[webcam]] also started taking off during this time. Microsoft's [[NetMeeting]], which was focused on business "[[web conferencing]]", was one of the earliest; the company then launched [[Windows Messenger]], coming preloaded on [[Windows XP]], featuring video capabilities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-08-15 |title=New Yahoo IM chats up broadband |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/new-yahoo-im-chats-up-broadband/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=CNET |language=en}}</ref> Yahoo! Messenger added video capabilities in 2001;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yahoo! Messenger offers video option - Jun. 26, 2001 |url=https://money.cnn.com/2001/06/26/technology/yahoo/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=money.cnn.com}}</ref> by 2005, such features were built-in also in AIM, [[MSN Messenger]], and [[Skype]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-12-01 |title=Skype adds in video to net calls |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4488806.stm |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

There were a reported 100 million users of instant messaging in 2001.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2001-09-09 |title=Messaging in an instant |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1531112.stm |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-GB}}</ref> As of 2003, AIM was the globally most popular instant messenger with 195 million users and exchanges of 1.6 billion messages daily.<ref name="bbc20030630"/> By 2006, AIM controlled 52 percent of the instant messaging market, but rapidly declined shortly thereafter as the company struggled to compete with other services.<ref name="gitbooks" />

=== Integrated IM and mobile ===
[[File:Facebook chat screenshot (English).png|thumb|150px|[[Facebook Chat]], example of IM through a wider social network that became popular in the late 2000s]]
Instant messaging integrated in other services started picking up pace in the late 2000s. [[Myspace]], the then-largest [[social networking service]], launched [[Myspace IM]] in 2006, shortly after [[Google]]'s [[Gtalk]], which was integrated into its [[Gmail]] [[webmail]] interface. [[Facebook Messenger|Facebook Chat]] launched in 2008, providing IM to users of the social network.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bergfeld |first=Carlos |date=2008-04-17 |title=Facebook Chat: Reports of AIM's Death Greatly Exaggerated - CBS News |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-33240012/facebook-chat-reports-of-aims-death-greatly-exaggerated/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> By 2010, traditional instant messaging was in sharp decline in favor of these new messaging features on wider social networks, which at the time were not normally called IM.<ref name=bbc>{{cite news|last1=Kelly|first1=Jon|title=Instant messaging: This conversation is terminated|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8698174.stm|access-date=14 March 2018|agency=BBC|date=24 May 2010}}</ref> For instance, [[AIM (software)|AIM]]'s userbase had declined by more than half throughout the year 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carlson |first=Nicholas |title=In The Biggest Blown Opportunity Ever, AOL Instant Messenger Has Utterly Collapsed |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/in-the-biggest-blown-opportunity-ever-aol-instant-messenger-has-utterly-collapsed-2012-4 |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>

Standalone instant messenger services were revived, evolving into becoming primarily being used on [[Mobile device|mobile]] due to the increasing use of Internet-enabled [[cell phones]] and [[smartphones]]. Often called "chat apps", to distinguish it from [[Cellular network|cellular]]-based [[SMS]] and [[Multimedia Messaging Service|MMS]] "[[texting]]" services, these newer services were specially designed to be run on mobile platforms, as opposed to older services like AIM and MSN; [[BlackBerry Messenger]], released in 2005, was one of the influential pioneers of mobile IM,<ref name="inverse20230509" /> and led to other companies launching services with proprietary protocols, such as [[WhatsApp]].<ref name="gitbooks" /> Mobile instant messaging surpassed SMS in global message volume by 2013.<ref name="gitbooks" /><ref>{{cite web |date=29 April 2013 |title=Chat apps surpass SMS for the first time, study finds |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/4/29/4281618/chat-apps-surpass-sms-messaging-volume-study}}</ref> While SMS relied on traditional paid telephone services, IM apps on mobile were available for free or a minor data charge.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ling |first1=Rich |last2=Lai |first2=Chih-Hui |date=2016-10-01 |title=Microcoordination 2.0: Social Coordination in the Age of Smartphones and Messaging Apps |url=https://academic.oup.com/joc/article/66/5/834/4082414 |journal=Journal of Communication |language=en |volume=66 |issue=5 |pages=834–856 |doi=10.1111/jcom.12251 |issn=0021-9916}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Horwitz |first=Josh |date=25 August 2015 |title=Why WhatsApp bombed in the US, while Snapchat and Kik blew up |url=https://qz.com/487102/why-whatsapp-bombed-in-the-us-while-snapchat-and-kik-blew-up/ |access-date=2020-04-01 |website=Quartz |language=en}}</ref>

Older IM services were eventually shut, including AIM<ref>{{cite web |title=AIM has been discontinued as of December 15, 2017 |url=https://help.aol.com/articles/aim-discontinued |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215023120/https://help.aol.com/articles/aim-discontinued |archive-date=15 December 2017 |website=help.aol.com}}</ref> and Yahoo! Messenger, and also [[Windows Live Messenger]], which merged into [[Skype]] in 2013. In 2014, it was reported that instant messaging had more users than social networks.<ref>{{cite web|title=The rise of messaging platforms|url=https://chatbotnewsdaily.com/the-rise-of-messenger-platforms-and-its-legal-implications-62fe73355122|publisher=The Economist, via Chatbot News Daily|access-date=14 March 2018|date=2017-01-22|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117202639/https://chatbotnewsdaily.com/the-rise-of-messenger-platforms-and-its-legal-implications-62fe73355122?gi=2409e3ced269|url-status=dead}}</ref> Concurrently, rising use of instant messaging at workplaces led to the creation of new services ([[enterprise application integration]] (EAI)) often integrated with other enterprise applications such as workflow systems, for example in [[Skype for Business]], [[Slack (software)|Slack]] and [[Microsoft Teams]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-09 |title=Business Use of Instant Messaging on the Rise, Email Still Primary Survey Finds |url=https://www.telecompetitor.com/business-use-of-instant-messaging-on-the-rise-email-still-primary-survey-fids/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806145428/https://www.telecompetitor.com/business-use-of-instant-messaging-on-the-rise-email-still-primary-survey-fids/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Meanwhile, the launch of [[Discord]] in 2015 has marked a notable new example of traditional IM originally designed for desktops.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-05 |title=Third-party Discord app brings back MSN Messenger but there's a catch |url=https://www.dexerto.com/tech/third-party-discord-app-brings-back-msn-messenger-but-theres-a-catch-2631991/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Dexerto |language=en}}</ref>