 |
Chat/Messaging Basics |
What different ways are there to communicate through the Internet?
There are lots of ways to communicate through the Internet, ranging from E-Mail to live audio and video conferencing. This document focuses primarily on real-time communications. If you have questions about E-Mail, check out our E-Mail Tutorial.
The Internet has opened the door to cost-effective live communications, potentially so revolutionary that nothing but the telephone can compare to the changes it may make. You can already communicate - audibly and visually with anyone who has a good modem, a decent computer, and a Webcam (some good cams come as cheap as $45).
Ten years down the road, you may very likely not even have a modem, but a dedicated, inexpensive high-speed data channel. In the meantime, we'll keep our focus to what you've got right now - a computer, a modem, likely a sound card, and maybe even a Webcam.
Instant Messaging
What about one-on-one instant messaging?
Instant messaging has become one of the most popular means of communicating. It's as simple as chat, with the privacy of E-Mail, and without any wait. There are a variety of instant messaging clients out there. Some of the more popular ones are:
- AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) - AOL's Instant Messenger is currently the most popular instant messenging program available. Engage in simple one-on-one chats (essentially a private chat room), format fonts, receive news and stock info on a ticker, and communicate with others using AIM. You do not have to be an AOL customer to run Instant Messenger.
- MSN Messenger - a simple program that allows chats, basic font-formatting. If you already have a Microsoft Passport account, then you may already have a Messenger account.
- ICQ (pronounced "I seek you") - A fully-featured client, allows for file-transfers, chat rooms, or one-message-at-a-time conversations, and a variety of other little toys.
About Chat
What is chat room?
A chat room (also known as a "channel" when chatting via IRC) is a place where any number of people can come in, and have a live text-based chat. You can enter chats using chat software that supports IRC, or from a variety of Web sites that have communities built in. Visit our Chat Server to join a live chat session with other CoreComm customers.
What is IRC?
This is a protocol that is the original means of chatting through the actual Internet. There are several IRC networks that exist, where users can log into any IRC server and chat with anyone on the network directly or in a "channel" (a.k.a. a "chat room").
Chatting via IRC is very easy to do once you've logged onto a server and joined a channel. There are tens of thousands of active channels on IRC at any given time, so, you know there's a wide variety of topics to choose from.
One of the most widely used IRC clients is mIRC which has a lot of relatively easy to use features and has a list of many of the servers out there.
IRC is simply a protocol, and there are many widely used networks out there, like EFnet, DALnet, IRCnet, and UnderNet. We host our own IRC server on the EFnet network, which you can connect to at irc.core.com.
What are some shortcuts to getting stuff done on IRC?
Here we describe to you how to do a couple of simple and universal things that should work for most any IRC software out there. In mIRC, you can enter most of these in via the status window, or while in a channel.
- /join #channelname will take you into a channel (replace "channelname" with the actual name of the channel you'd like to join).
- /server irc.core.com would sign you onto the irc.core.com server
- /nick nickname would change your "nick" to whatever you specify.
- /whois nickname will allow you to get more detailed information about a given person based on their IRC nickname.
- /ping nickname allows you to determine the time it takes for information to get between you and a given user.
- /me ____________ (for use in channels only), allows you to specify an "action". For example, if your username is "johndoe", and you enter in:
/me is hungry for some Chicago-style pizza
...the people in the channel will see a message like:
* johndoe is hungry for some Chicago-style pizza
There are a variety of places you can get more information about using IRC. Join the channel #irchelp for help from other people who are experienced in the ways of IRC.
What are some common expressions and abbreviations used in electronic communications?
There are a few things you should probably know before you get to chatting with the pros. You'll probably run into a decent amount of expressions, but they're all pretty simple to learn.
Sometimes, people will express an action that's being performed in brackets, like <smacks forehead> or <frantically waves like a giddy child> to verbally describe what they're doing, even if it is an exaggeration.
Other actions can be expressed by a simple abbreviation for them. When a user types one of these things, it means they are:
- LOL - laughing out loud
- ROFL - rolling on floor laughing
- ROFLOL - rolling on floor laughing out loud (you get the point)
- BAK - back at the keyboard
- AFK - away from the keyboard
- BRB- going away but will be right back
- BBL - going away and will be back later on
- BBIAF - going but will be back in a flash
- TTYL - saying "talk to you later"
- j/k - just kidding
Also, emotion is easily expressed with what are called "emoticons" (pronounced e-mote-i-cons), which are textual representations of a face one might make. Here are a few that are quite commonly used (the actual text used is in maroon and bolded ).
- =) or :) smile
- =( or :( sad
- =| straight-faced
- =P sticking out tongue (usually in a silly connotation)
- =O in shock
- =/ disappointed
What sort of etiquette should I be aware of in chat rooms?
As you may already know (some of you found this out the hard way), there is a certain universal code of conduct for communicating through the Internet. You'll see some people break these rules, but you may also see other people become annoyed with it.
Here are some pointers to help you keep your popularity level at an all time high (and save yourself from being kicked out of certain channels) in chat rooms:
- Do not type your messages in ALL CAPS. This is considered to be yelling or screaming what you say. If you're not too handy with the shift key, simply type in all lower-case letters.
- Don't "flood" channels. It's not nice to start typing lots of junk text (e.g.: askldfkljasjdlf), or entering a lot of lines of text or other characters to make the screen scroll up. In many chats, you'll immediately be ejected by an operator.
- Don't change your nickname too often. Sometimes we change our names while in channels because we want to, or sometimes its even done for humorous purposes, but don't change it on a whim every 30 seconds.
- If the chat room that you're in supports changing your font and colors, don't be too "loud" with the colors and sizes. It can make it difficult to read what's going on in the channel, and turn it into a competition to see who can be the most noticable. Also, try not to pick fonts that are difficult to read.
Where can I find Web-based chats?
We offer a flexible chat system for our customers on the CoreComm Start Page Chat Feature.
You can also find chats at a variety of other portals including AltaVista, Excite, Lycos, MSN, and Yahoo!.
Audio and Videoconferencing
What's the easiest way to get started with Internet calls?
If you have a sound card, a microphone, and a 28.8k modem (or better), you can do audio conferencing quite easily. You can download a free copy of Microsoft NetMeeting to get started.
NetMeeting allows you to find people on directory services, or if you know someone that is online, you can connect to them by their IP address. Messaging programs like ICQ and MSN Messenger also allow you to start direct Internet Calls using NetMeeting with just a couple of clicks as well, as long as both of you are online and have NetMeeting open and waiting for a call.
How do I do video conferencing?
Surprisingly, it's just as simple. If either one of you have a video input device hooked into your computer (like a TV tuner card or a Webcam), NetMeeting automatically picks that up and allows you to use the software to broadcast a stream of video to them. Over a 56k modem, you can actually get fairly decent resolution and still have good audio quality.
Other possibilities
The solutions that are out there are already at a point where it's a cost-effective option for average people who aren't millionaires to get in touch with their family and friends in a way that it's almost like you're right there.
NetMeeting even allows you to do text-based chat, share applications (so you can do things on the other persons' computer with their permission, like drawing in a paint program or even help them learn to use a feature on their computer), and even comes with whiteboard features for simple sketches.
Other options
There are a variety of Web sites that allow you to broadcast a live view from your Webcam to anyone. One of the more popular sites is Camarades.
Return to top of document
Return to New User Index
CoreComm is not responsible for content on external sites.
Please review the privacy and security policies of each vendor before making online purchases or providing
personal information.
|
| Document History |
| Last Updated: | 09/17/02 |
| Last Reviewed: | 09/17/02 |
|
