Online chat - can refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, but is primarily

meant to refer to direct one-on-one chat or text-based group chat (formally also known as
synchronous conferencing), using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat,
talkers and possibly MUDs. The expression online chat comes from the word chat which
means "informal conversation"

Advantages of Internet chatting:

 You meet new people

 You exchange your views about certain subjects
 You can relax because you don't have to see the person physically
 If you are shy this is a way of making friends
 You can treat some special friends you've met like pen pals, but you are chatting
instead of writing letters like they use too 20 years ago

Disadvantages of Internet Chatting:

 You just never know whom you are talking too. It could be an older man who is a
pervert and acting out like he is young.
 You may trust this person and give out your full name; address; email add; your
phone/cell number. This is very dangerous! Tell me nothing when it comes to your
identity.
 You may think you are falling in love with the person you are chatting with, but could
live thousands of miles away and long distance relationships seldom work out.
 If you are shy you are far more vulnerable to being hurt by someone on the Internet
and may slip up giving them too much information which they could use against you
and cause a myriad of problems for you.
 Cyber stalking is at it's peak especially among teens. This means a group of kids
(just for the heck of it) pick on one person and it's really getting out of control. There
are threatens (often the group of teens will act on their threats if they live in the same
area.)
 Cyber bullying is another problem. This is where one, two or more teens picks on
another teen and constantly calls them names. Being young and stupid they don't
realize what they have done and the suicide rate connected with this is going up in
leaps and bounds.

Effect of online chat to the students

Online chat and text messaging come with their own special language and grammar rules
(practically none), including failure to:

 Capitalize proper nouns and first words in sentences

 Use proper punctuation, especially periods
 Avoid spelling mistakes

Granted, these grammatical oversights are usually committed in the interest of saving time,
but they may be taking their toll on academic writing. This is unfortunate because knowing
how to write well academically leads to writing well in business and professional life.

There is one thing that teachers can do: Refuse to allow "chat language" to be used in the
classroom. Homework and class work should not include abbreviations such as "lol", "btw"
or "imo". Proper spelling and punctuation should, as always, be a priority.
The following are common chat programs and protocols:

 AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)  QQ

 Camfrog  SILC
 Campfire  Skype
 Gadu-Gadu  Talk
 Google Talk  Talker
 ICQ (OSCAR)  TeamSpeak (TS)
 InSpeak Communicator  Windows Live
 Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Messenger
 I2P-Messenger(anonymous, end-to-end encrypted im  Yahoo! Messenger
for the I2P network)
 XMPP
 MUD
 Paltalk

Chat programs supporting multiple protocols:

 Adium
 Digsby
 Google Talk
 IMVU
 Kopete
 Lotus Sametime
 Miranda IM
 Pidgin
 Trillian
 Quiet Internet Pager

Web sites with browser-based chat services (also see web chat):

 Meebo
 Tokbox
 FilmOn
 MeBeam
 Mibbit
 eBuddy
 Omegle
 Trillian
 Facebook

 Acronyms

AFAIK -- As Far As I Know

AFK -- Away From Keyboard
ASAP -- As Soon As Possible
BAS -- Big A** Smile
BBL -- Be Back Later
BBN -- Bye Bye Now
BBS -- Be Back Soon
BEG -- Big Evil Grin
BF -- Boyfriend
BIBO -- Beer In, Beer Out
BRB -- Be Right Back
BTW -- By The Way
BWL -- Bursting With Laughter
C&G -- Chuckle and Grin
CICO -- Coffee In, Coffee Out
CID -- Crying In Disgrace
CNP -- Continued (in my) Next Post
CP -- Chat Post(a chat message)
CRBT -- Crying Real Big Tears
CSG -- Chuckle Snicker Grin
CYA -- See You (Seeya)
CYAL8R -- See You Later (Seeyalata)
DLTBBB -- Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite
EG -- Evil Grin
EMSG -- Email Message
FC -- Fingers Crossed
FTBOMH -- From The Bottom Of My Heart
FYI -- For Your Information
FWIW -- For What It's Worth
GAL -- Get A Life
GF -- Girlfriend
GFN -- Gone For Now
GMBA -- Giggling My Butt Off
GMTA -- Great Minds Think Alike
GTSY -- Glad To See You
H&K -- Hug and Kiss
HABU -- Have A Better 'Un
HAGN -- Have A Good Night
HAGU -- Have A Good 'Un
HHIS -- Hanging Head in Shame
HUB -- Head Up Butt
IAE -- In Any Event
IANAL -- I Am Not A Lawyer
IC -- I See
IGP -- I Gotta Pee
IMNSHO -- In My Not So Humble Opinion
IMO -- In My Opinion
IMCO -- In My Considered Opinion
IMHO -- In My Humble Opinion
IOW -- In Other Words
IRL -- In Real Life
IWALU -- I Will Always Love You
JMO -- Just My Opinion
JTLYK -- Just To Let You Know
KIT -- Keep In Touch
KOC -- Kiss On Cheek
KOL -- Kiss On Lips
L8R -- Later
L8R -- G8R Later 'Gater
LHM -- Lord Help Me
LHO -- Laughing Head Off
LHU -- Lord Help Us
LMAO -- Laughing My A$$ Off
LMSO -- Laughing My Socks Off
LOL -- Laugh Out Loud
LSHMBB -- Laughing So Hard My Belly is Bouncing
LSHMBH -- Laughing So Hard My Belly Hurts
LSHTTARDML -- Laughing So Hard The Tears Are Running Down My Leg
LTNS -- Long Time No See
LTS -- Laughing To Self
LUWAMH -- Love You With All My Heart
LY -- Love Ya
MTF -- More To Follow
NRN -- No Reply Necessary
NADT -- Not A Darn Thing
OIC -- Oh, I See
OL -- Old Lady (significant other)
OM -- Old Man (significant other)
OTOH -- On The Other Hand
OTTOMH -- Off The Top of My Head
PDS -- Please Don't Shoot
PITA -- Pain In The A**
PM -- Private Message
PMFJI -- Pardon Me For Jumping In
PMP -- Peed My Pants
POAHF -- Put On A Happy Face
QSL -- Reply
QSO -- Conversation
QT -- Cutie
ROFL -- Rolling On Floor Laughing
ROFLAPMP -- ROFL And Peeing My Pants
ROFLMAO -- ROFL My A** Off
ROFLMAOAY -- ROFLMAO At You
ROFLMAOWTIME -- ROFLMAO With Tears In My Eyes
ROFLUTS ROFL -- Unable to Speak
RTFM Read The F****** Manual!
SETE -- Smiling Ear To Ear
SHID -- Slaps Head In Disgust
SNERT -- Snot-Nosed Egotistical Rude Teenager
SO -- Significant Other
SOT -- Short Of Time
SOTMG -- Short Of Time Must Go
SWAK -- Sealed With A Kiss
SWAS -- Scientific Wild A** Guess
SWL -- Screaming with Laughter
SYS -- See You Soon
TA -- Thanks Again
TGIF -- Thank God It's Friday
TCOY -- Take Care Of Yourself
TILII -- Tell It Like It Is
TNT -- Till Next Time
TOY -- Thinking Of You
TTFN -- Ta Ta For Now
TTYL -- Talk To You Later
WAS -- Wild A** Guess
WB -- Welcome Back
WTH What/Who The Heck (or sub an 'F' for the 'H')
YBS -- You'll Be Sorry
 YG -- Young Gentleman
YL -- Young Lady
YM -- Young Man

 Symbols 
:-| -- Ambivalent
o:-) -- Angelic
>:-( -- Angry
|-I -- Asleep
(::()::) -- Bandaid
:-{} -- Blowing a Kiss
\-o -- Bored
:-c -- Bummed Out
|C| -- Can of Coke
|P| -- Can of Pepsi
:( ) -- Can't Stop Talking
:*) -- Clowning
:' -- Crying
:'-) -- Crying with Joy
:'-( -- Crying Sadly
:-9 -- Delicious, Yummy
:-> -- Devilish
;-> -- Devilish Wink
:P -- Disgusted (sticking out tongue)
:*) -- Drunk
:-6 -- Exhausted, Wiped Out
:( -- Frown
\~/ -- Full Glass
\_/ -- Glass (drink)
^5 -- High Five
(((((name)))) -- Hug (cyber hug)
(( )):** -- Hugs and Kisses
:-I -- Indifferent
:-# -- Lips are Sealed
:~/ -- Mixed Up
:-O -- Mouth Open (Surprised)
(_) -- Mug (coffee, beer)
@[_]~~ -- Mug of HOT Coffee or Tea
**** -- Popcorn
<<{:}} -- Ice cream
&&&& -- Pretzels
@}--{--{-- -- Rose
:-@ -- Screaming
:-O -- Shocked
:-) -- Smile
^ -- Thumbs Up
:-& -- Tongue Tied
:-\ -- Undecided
;-) -- Wink
|-O -- Yawning
c[T] -- cup of tea
c[C] -- cup of coffee
(%> -- pizza
,,l, -- the finger
 >^-^< -- cats
  (_\_)(_|_)(_/_) -- dancing ass off
 :-Þ~ -- drooling
<o> <o> -- staring
?€?€ -- hiding, staring in the dark.
{\o/} -- angel
<o>¿~~ -- wink
:-------) -- Viagra

What's the difference between e-mail, online chat, and instant messaging?

Answer:
These are three different ways of communicating with other people over the Internet. To
answer your question, I'll explain each method individually.

1. E-mail is a way of sending individual messages to people using an e-mail server to

relay the message. Because the server holds the messages for a person until he or
she retrieves them, e-mail can be sent whether or not a person is online. One way to
send or receive e-mail is to use a mail program such as Outlook Explorer or Mac OS
X Mail that will communicate with your mail server. Another method is called
Webmail (such as Hotmail or Gmail) that allows you to send messages using a Web-
based interface. To send someone an e-mail message using either of these
methods, you simply need to know their e-mail address.

2. Online Chat is a way of talking online in real-time with many people at once. Some
chat rooms are available via the Web, such as Yahoo! Chat, while others require a
separate software program for chatting with other users. Online chat rooms allow
multiple users to join in a conversation and see what all the other people are typing.
Typically chat rooms are based around certain themes, such as Teen Chat,
Macintosh Chat, or Religious Chat. Using online chat, you can meet new people in
an anonymous environment. You will need to choose a "screen name" to join a chat
room, but the screen name can be whatever you would like it to be. I usually choose
something that describes me well, like "Hot Guy."

3. Instant Messaging, or "IMing," is a way of communicating online with a select

group of people, usually individually. To instant message someone, you need to
know his or her screen name. You can save your friends' screen names in a list
called a "Buddy List." In the instant messaging world, your screen name is likely to be
more permanent than with online chat. Also, unlike online chat, you need to use an
instant messaging program, such as AOL Instant Messenger or MSN Messenger.
While online, you can open IM windows with many of your friends at once and type
messages back and forth until you realize it's time for bed and you haven't done you
homework yet.