Episode 7 - Instant Messaging

Greg and Anto (both 14/f/cali) talk about the early days of the internet and the advent of instant messaging from IRC and chat rooms all the way to the modern messaging apps we take for granted today for instant communication. What a time it was to grow up in the 90s.

msn Messenger

In this podcast we explore the origins and evolution of instant messengers.

  • Early messengers:

    • IRC, noteworthy networks EFnet, freenode. Inspired by Bitnet Relay and replacing MUT
    • Online chat rooms: everyone in the room can see your messages and respond. Instant messaging evolved to smaller more private groups or just 2 people.* * Online chat rooms: everyone in the room can see your messages and respond. Instant messaging evolved to smaller more private groups or just 2 people.
    • Early 90s: AIM, msn Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ
    • Gaming focused IMing: Xfire, Steam
  • Emoticons, the beginning of Emojis

  • Shorthand language evolution:

    • BRB, LOL, LMAO, OMG, ROFL, ROFLCOPTER, TTYL, TY, NP

  • Modern integration into social media platforms

    • Myspace Enternexus, nexopia, facebook chat, WhatsApp

  • Modern integration into more rich virtual conversations:

    • Google Hangouts, Skype, Zoom, Slack, Discord
  • IM aggregators: pidgin, trillian, adium
  • Security of instant messaging vs new end-to-end encryption