Instant messaging
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2016) |
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of
Instant messaging systems tend to facilitate connections between specified known users (often using a contact list also known as a "buddy list" or "friend list"), and can be standalone applications or integrated into e.g. a wider
Instant messaging applications can store messages with either local-based device storage (e.g.
etc.).Instant messaging was pioneered in the early Internet era; the
Overview
Instant messaging is a set of communication technologies used for text-based communication between two (private messaging) or more (chat room) participants over the Internet or other types of networks (see also LAN messenger).[6] IM chats happen in real-time. Online chat and instant messaging differ from other technologies such as email due to the perceived quasi-synchrony of the communications by the users, although some systems allow users to send offline messages that the other user receives when logging in.[7]
IM allows effective and efficient communication, allowing immediate receipt of acknowledgment or reply. However IM is basically not necessarily supported by
Major IM services are controlled by their corresponding companies. They usually follow the client–server model when all clients have to first connect to the central server.[9] This requires users to trust this server because messages can generally be accessed by the company. Companies may be compelled to reveal their user's communication, and companies can also suspend user accounts for any reason.[10]
Non-IM types of chat include multicast transmission, usually referred to as "chat rooms", where participants might be anonymous or might be previously known to each other (for example collaborators on a project that is using chat to facilitate communication).
An instant message service center (IMSC) is a network element in the mobile telephone network which delivers instant messages. When a user sends an IM message to another user, the phone sends the message to the IMSC. The IMSC stores the message and delivers it to the destination user when they are available. The IMSC usually has a configurable time limit for how long it will store the message. Few companies who make many of the IMSCs in use in the GSM world are Miyowa, Followap and OZ. Other players include Acision, Colibria, Ericsson, Nokia, Comverse Technology, Now Wireless, Jinny Software, Miyowa, Feelingk and few others.
The term "Instant Messenger" is a
Clients
Modern IM services generally provide their own client, either a separately installed piece of software, or a
Some examples of popular IM services today include
, either directly or through chat rooms.Features
Private and group messaging
Private chat allows private conversation with another person or a group. The privacy aspect can also be enhanced in a number of ways such as
Calling
Many major IM services and applications offer the call feature for user-to-user calls, conference calls, and voice messages. The call functionality is useful for professionals who utilize the application for work purposes and as a hands-free method. Videotelephony using a webcam is also possible by some.
Games and entertainment
Some IM applications include in-app games for entertainment. Yahoo! Messenger for example introduced these where users could play a game and viewed by friends in real-time.[13] The Messenger application has a built in option to play computer games with people in a chat, including games like Tetris and Blackjack.
Another popular messaging app that allows you to play games inside it is Discord. There are multiple games built inside the "activities" tab in voice channels.
Payments
Though a relatively new feature, peer-to-peer payments are available on major messaging platforms. This functionality allows individuals to use one application for both communication and financial tasks. The lack of a service fee also makes messaging apps advantageous to financial applications. Major platforms such as
History
1988 | Internet Relay Chat |
---|---|
1989 | |
1990 | |
1991 | |
1992 | |
1993 | |
1994 | |
1995 | |
1996 | ICQ |
1997 | AIM |
1998 | Yahoo! Messenger |
1999 | XMPP MSN Messenger |
2000 | |
2001 | |
2002 | |
2003 | Xfire |
2004 | |
2005 | |
2006 | |
2007 | |
2008 | |
2009 | |
2010 | Kik Messenger |
2011 | Facebook Messenger Snapchat |
2012 | |
2013 | Telegram |
2014 | Facebook buys WhatsApp Signal |
2015 | Discord |
Though the term dates from the 1990s, instant messaging predates the Internet, first appearing on
Parallel to instant messaging were early online chat facilities, the earliest of which was Talkomatic (1973) on the 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[17] such general-availability commercial online chat service (as opposed to PLATO, which was educational) was the CompuServe CB Simulator in 1980,[18] 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, ntalk and ytalk), while others required peers to connect to a server (see talker and IRC). The 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.
Early instant messaging programs were primarily real-time text, where characters appeared as they were typed. This includes the Unix "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[19] as an optional feature.[20]
In the latter half of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the
Modern, Internet-wide, GUI-based messaging clients as they are known today, began to take off in the mid-1990s with
In 2000, an
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.[16]
By 2010, instant messaging over the Web was in sharp decline in favor of messaging features on social networks.
The popularity of instant messaging was soon revived with new services in the form of
In 2016, Google introduced a new intelligent messaging app that incorporated machine learning technology called Allo.[26] Google Allo was shut down on March 12, 2019.[27]
Interoperability
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2012) |
Standard complementary instant messaging applications offer functions like file transfer, contact list(s), the ability to hold several simultaneous conversations, etc. These may be all the functions that a small business needs, but larger organizations will require more sophisticated applications that can work together. The solution to finding applications capable of this is to use enterprise versions of instant messaging applications. These include titles like XMPP,
There have been several attempts to create a unified standard for instant messaging:
Most attempts at producing a unified standard for the major IM providers (AOL, Yahoo! and Microsoft) have failed, and each continues to use its own proprietary protocol.
However, while discussions at IETF were stalled,
There are two ways to combine the many disparate protocols:
- Combine the many disparate protocols inside the IM client application.
- Combine the many disparate protocols inside the IM server application. This approach moves the task of communicating with the other services to the server. Clients need not know or care about other IM protocols. For example, LCS 2005 Public IM Connectivity. This approach is popular in XMPP servers; however, the so-called transport projects suffer the same reverse engineering difficulties as any other project involved with closed protocols or formats.
Some approaches allow organizations to deploy their own, private instant messaging network by enabling them to restrict access to the server (often with the IM network entirely behind their firewall) and administer user permissions. Other corporate messaging systems allow registered users to also connect from outside the corporation LAN, by using an encrypted, firewall-friendly, HTTPS-based protocol. Usually, a dedicated corporate IM server has several advantages, such as pre-populated contact lists, integrated authentication, and better security and privacy.
Certain networks have made changes to prevent them from being used by such multi-network IM clients. For example,
The use of
In 2022, the European Union passed the Digital Markets Act, which largely came into effect in early 2023. Among other things, the legislation mandates certain interoperability between the largest messaging platforms in use in Europe.[30]
Effects of IM on communication
Messaging applications have affected the way people communicate on their devices. A survey conducted by MetrixLabs showed that 63% of Baby Boomers, 63% of Generation X, and 67% of Generation Y said that they used messaging applications in place of texting.[31] A Facebook survey showed that 65% of people surveyed thought that messaging applications made group messaging easier.[32]
Effects on workplace communication
Messaging applications have also changed how people communicate in the workplace. Enterprise messaging applications like
Messaging applications may make workplace communication efficient, but they can also have consequences on productivity. A study at Slack showed on average, people spend 10 hours a day on Slack, which is about 67% more time than they spend using email.[34]
IM language
Users sometimes make use of internet slang or text speak to abbreviate common words or expressions to quicken conversations or reduce keystrokes. The language has become widespread, with well-known expressions such as 'lol' translated over to face-to-face language.
Emotions are often expressed in shorthand, such as the abbreviation LOL, BRB and TTYL; respectively laugh(ing) out loud, be right back, and talk to you later.
Some, however, attempt to be more accurate with emotional expression over IM. Real time reactions such as (chortle) (snort) (guffaw) or (eye-roll) are becoming more popular. Also there are certain standards that are being introduced into mainstream conversations including, '#' indicates the use of sarcasm in a statement and '*' which indicates a spelling mistake and/or grammatical error in the prior message, followed by a correction.[35]
Business application
Instant messaging has proven to be similar to personal computers, email, and the World Wide Web, in that its adoption for use as a business communications medium was driven primarily by individual employees using consumer software at work, rather than by formal mandate or provisioning by corporate information technology departments. Tens of millions of the consumer IM accounts in use are being used for business purposes by employees of companies and other organizations.
In response to the demand for business-grade IM and the need to ensure security and legal compliance, a new type of instant messaging, called "Enterprise Instant Messaging" ("EIM") was created when
The adoption of IM across corporate networks outside of the control of IT organizations creates risks and liabilities for companies who do not effectively manage and support IM use. Companies implement specialized IM archiving and security products and services to mitigate these risks and provide safe, secure, productive instant messaging abilities to their employees. IM is increasingly becoming a feature of enterprise software rather than a stand-alone application.
IM products can usually be categorised into two types: Enterprise Instant Messaging (EIM)[37] and Consumer Instant Messaging (CIM).[38] Enterprise solutions use an internal IM server, however this is not always feasible, particularly for smaller businesses with limited budgets. The second option, using a CIM provides the advantage of being inexpensive to implement and has little need for investing in new hardware or server software.
For corporate use, encryption and conversation archiving are usually regarded as important features due to security concerns.
Comparison to SMS
SMS is the acronym for "short message service" and allows mobile phone users to send text messages without an Internet connection, while instant messaging provides similar services through an Internet connection.[16] SMS was a much more dominant form of communication before smartphones became widely used globally. While SMS relied on traditional paid telephone services, instant messaging apps on mobiles were available for free or a minor data charge. In 2012 SMS volume peaked, and in 2013 chat apps surpassed SMS in global message volume.[41]
Easier group messaging was another advantage of smartphone messaging apps and also contributed to their adoption. Before the introduction of messaging apps, smartphone users could only participate in single-person interactions via mobile voice calls or SMS. With the introduction of messaging apps, the group chat functionality allows all the members to see an entire thread of everyone's responses. Members can also respond directly to each other, rather than having to go through the member who started the group message, to relay the information.[42]
However, SMS still remains popular in the United States because it is usually included free in monthly phone bundles.[43] While SMS volumes in some countries like Denmark, Spain and Singapore dropped up to two-thirds from 2011 to 2013, in the United States SMS use only dropped by about one quarter.[43]
Security and archiving
Crackers (malicious or
Viruses, computer worms, and trojans usually propagate by sending themselves rapidly through the infected user's contact list. An effective attack using a poisoned URL may reach tens of thousands of users in a short period when each user's contact list receives messages appearing to be from a trusted friend. The recipients click on the web address, and the entire cycle starts again. Infections may range from nuisance to criminal, and are becoming more sophisticated each year.
IM connections sometimes occur in plain text, making them vulnerable to eavesdropping. Also, IM client software often requires the user to expose open UDP ports to the world, raising the threat posed by potential security vulnerabilities.[45]
In the early 2000s, a new class of IT security provider emerged to provide remedies for the risks and liabilities faced by corporations who chose to use IM for business communications. The IM security providers created new products to be installed in corporate networks for the purpose of archiving, content-scanning, and security-scanning IM traffic moving in and out of the corporation. Similar to the
With rapid adoption of IM in the workplace, demand for IM security products began to grow in the mid-2000s. By 2007, the preferred platform for the purchase of security software had become the "computer appliance", according to IDC, who estimated that by 2008, 80% of network security products would be delivered via an appliance.[46]
By 2014 however, the level of safety offered by instant messengers was still extremely poor. According to a scorecard made by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, only 7 out of 39 instant messengers received a perfect score, whereas the most popular instant messengers at the time only attained a score of 2 out of 7.[47][48] A number of studies have shown that IM services are quite vulnerable for providing user privacy.[49][50]
Encryption
Encryption is the primary method that messaging apps use to protect user's data privacy and security. SMS messages are not encrypted, making them insecure, as the content of each SMS message is visible to mobile carriers and governments and can be intercepted by a third party.[51] SMS messages also leak metadata, or information about the message that is not the message content itself, such as phone numbers of the sender and recipient, which can identify the people involved in the conversation.[51] SMS messages can also be spoofed and the sender of the message can be edited to impersonate another person.[51]
Messaging applications on the market that use
Compliance risks
In addition to the malicious code threat, the use of instant messaging at work also creates a risk of non-compliance to laws and regulations governing use of electronic communications in businesses.
In the United States alone there are over 10,000 laws and regulations related to electronic messaging and records retention.[52] The better-known of these include the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, HIPAA, and SEC 17a-3.
Clarification from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) was issued to member firms in the financial services industry in December, 2007, noting that "electronic communications", "email", and "electronic correspondence" may be used interchangeably and can include such forms of electronic messaging as instant messaging and text messaging.[53] Changes to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, effective December 1, 2006, created a new category for electronic records which may be requested during discovery in legal proceedings.
Most nations also regulate use of electronic messaging and electronic records retention in similar fashion as the United States. The most common regulations related to IM at work involve the need to produce archived business communications to satisfy government or judicial requests under law. Many instant messaging communications fall into the category of business communications that must be archived and retrievable.
User base
This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. (March 2015) |
As of March 2022, the most used messaging apps worldwide include:
Messaging apps have varying levels of adoption in different countries. As of April 2022:[57][58]
- WhatsApp by Meta Platforms is the most popular messaging app in several countries in South America, Western Europe, Africa, Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
- Facebook Messenger by Meta Platformsis the most popular messaging app in North America, Northern Europe, some Central Europe countries, and Oceania.
- Telegram is the most popular messaging app in several Eastern Europe countries, and the second preferred option after WhatsApp in several countries in Western Europe, Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Central and South America.
- Viber by Rakuten has a strong presence in Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia). It is also moderately successful in Philippines and Vietnam.[59][60][61]
- Line by Naver Corporation is used widely in some countries in Asia (Japan, Taiwan, Thailand).
- Messaging apps that are predominately used in only one country include: in Qatar.
- While not the dominant app for one-to-one messaging in any country, Discordis commonly used among online communities due to its ability to support chats with a large amount of members, topic-based channels, and cloud-based storage.
More than 100 million users
Instant messenger client | Company | Usage |
---|---|---|
Discord | Discord Inc. | 250 million users (May 2019)[62] |
eBuddy XMS | eBuddy | 250 million users (September 2011)[63] |
Facebook Messenger
|
Meta Platforms | 900 million active users (April 2016),[64] 1.3 billion monthly active users (September 2017)[65] |
Google Meet/Chat | Google LLC
|
? |
iMessage | Apple Inc. | 1300 million users (September 2017)[66] |
Kik Messenger | Kik Interactive | 300 million users (May 2016)[67] |
Line | Naver Corporation | 217 million monthly active users (2016)[68] |
RCS (protocol) | GSM Association | 1000 million monthly active users (November 2023)[69] |
Signal | Signal Foundation | 100 million 2022 [1] |
Skype | Microsoft Corporation
|
300 million monthly active users (5 June 2019),[70] 1.55 billion registered users (2019),[71] 4.9 million daily active users (2 March 2014),[72] 34 million peak online (February 2012).[73] |
Snapchat | Snap Inc. | 301 million monthly active users (2016)[74] |
Telegram | Telegram Messenger LLP | 700 million monthly active users (June 2022),[75] 500 million monthly active users (January 2021)[76] over 1 billion registered users (2021)[77] |
Tencent QQ | Tencent Holdings Limited | 823 million monthly active users (July 2019)[78] |
Viber | Rakuten | 260 million monthly active users (January 2019),[79] 1.169 billion registered users (March 2020)[80] |
Tencent Holdings Limited | 1300 million monthly active users (September 2022) [81][82] | |
Meta Platforms | 1200 million monthly active users (January 2017),[83] 2000 million registered users (12 February 2020),[84] 500 million daily active users (March 2019).[85] | |
XMPP (Protocol used by multiple clients) | XMPP Standards Foundation | 1200+ million (September 2011)[86] |
Other platforms
Instant messenger client | Company | Usage |
---|---|---|
BlackBerry Messenger
|
BlackBerry | 91 million total users (October 2014)[87] |
Element | New Vector | 20+ million users (November 2020)[88] |
Gadu-Gadu | GG Network S.A. | 6.5 million users active daily (majority in Poland) (June 2010)[89] |
IBM Sametime
|
IBM Corp. | 20 million users (February 2006)[90] |
ICQ | ICQ LLC. | 11 million total users (July 2014)[91] |
IMVU | IMVU, inc. | 1 million users (June 2007)[92] |
IRC (protocol) | 0.4 million users (2013)[93] | |
Paltalk | Paltalk.com | 5.5 million monthly unique users (August 2013)[94] |
Closed services and such with unclear activity
Instant messenger client | Company | Usage |
---|---|---|
AIM
|
AOL, Inc | Closed in December 2017 |
Hike Messenger | Hike Messenger | Closed in January 2021 |
MXit
|
MXit Lifestyle (Pty) Ltd.[95] | Closed in September 2016 |
RTC | rtcim.com | Closed in ???. (10 million users) |
Windows Live Messenger
|
Microsoft Corporation
|
Closed in April 2013, China in October 2014 |
Xfire | Xfire, Inc. | Closed in June 2015 |
Yahoo! Messenger | Yahoo!, Inc.
|
Closed in July 2018 |
See also
Terms
- Ambient awareness – Term used to describe a form of peripheral social awareness
- Communication protocol – System for exchanging messages between computing systems
- Mass collaboration – Many people working on a single project
- Message-oriented middleware – Type of software or hardware infrastructure
- Operator messaging – Messaging answer service
- Social media – Virtual online communities
- Text messaging – Act of typing and sending a brief, digital message
- SMS – Text messaging service component
- Messaging
Lists
- Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients
- Comparison of instant messaging protocols
- Comparison of user features of messaging platforms
Other
- Code Shikara – Computer worm
References
- ^ "What is Instant Messaging? - Definition from SearchUnifiedCommunications". Unified Communications. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
- ^ "History of IRC". 4 January 2021.
- ^ "The Evolution of Instant Messaging". 17 November 2016.
- ^ Lee, Tyler; PDT, on 06/21/2013 02:28. "BBM Is The Favorite Messaging Platform In The UK According To Research". Ubergizmo. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Infatuation with Messaging Apps Continues in Indonesia - eMarketer". www.emarketer.com. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
- ^ "Part 1. Introduction: The basics of instant messaging". Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. 2004-09-01. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ "8 Examples of Instant Messaging | ezTalks". www.eztalks.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ Clifford, Catherine (2013-12-11). "Top 10 Apps for Instant Messaging (Infographic)". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ "How Instant Messaging Works". HowStuffWorks. 2001-03-28. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ "Skype hauled into court after refusing to hand call records to cops". The Register. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ "Summary Of Final Decisions Issued By The Trademark Trial And Appeal Board" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
- ^ "Important and Long Delayed News". April 6, 2007. Archived from the original on April 8, 2007.
- ^ "Yahoo! Messenger Launches "Imvironments™" with Next Generation of Yahoo! Messenger Service | Altaba Inc".
- ISBN 9783863096236.
The basic concept of sending instantaneously messages to logged in users came with ... CTSS ...
- ^ Tom Van Vleck. "Instant Messaging on CTSS and Multics". Multicians.org. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
- ^ a b c d e f "A Brief History of Chat Apps · Guide to Chat Apps". towcenter.gitbooks.io. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
- ^ CompuServe Innovator Resigns After 25 Years, The Columbus Dispatch, May 11, 1996, p. 2F
- ^ Wired and Inspired, The Columbus Dispatch (Business page), by Mike Pramik, November 12, 2000
- ^ "AOL Instant Messenger's Real-Time IM feature". Help.aol.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "RealJabber.org's animation of real-time text". Realjabber.org. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
- ^ "Screenshot of a Quantum Link OLM". Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "The History of Skype". 28 November 2018.
- ^ Kelly, Jon (24 May 2010). "Instant messaging: This conversation is terminated". BBC. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "AIM has been discontinued as of December 15, 2017". help.aol.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017.
- ^ "The rise of messaging platforms". The Economist, via Chatbot News Daily. 2017-01-22. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Google's Allo puts AI in a messaging app". Engadget. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- 9to5Google. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
- ^ "A Brief History of Chat Services" (PDF). sameroom.io. 19 April 2023.
- ^ "The decline of instant messaging". BBC News. May 24, 2010.
- ^ Claburn, Thomas. "EU mandated interoperable messaging not so simple: Paper". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
- ^ "How messaging apps change the way we communicate". MetrixLab. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "More Than a Message: The Evolution of Conversation". insights.fb.com. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "Text Messaging Apps Are Transforming Workplace Communications". TeleMessage. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ Kashyap, Vartika. "Are Messaging Apps at Work Affecting Team Productivity?". learn.g2.com. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ instant messaging Archived February 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, NetworkDictionary.com.
- ^ "Oracle Buzzes with Updates for its Beehive Collaboration Platform". CMSWire. May 12, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- ^ "Better Business IMs - Business Technology". Im.about.com. 2012-04-10. Archived from the original on 2011-04-30. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
- ^ "Reader Questions IM Privacy at Work". Im.about.com. 2008-03-15. Archived from the original on 2010-08-25. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
- ^ Schneier, Bruce; Seidel, Kathleen; Vijayakumar, Saranya (11 February 2016). "Multi-Encrypting Messengers – in: A Worldwide Survey of Encryption Products" (PDF). Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ Adams, David; Maier, Ann-Kathrin (6 June 2016). "BIG SEVEN Study, open source crypto-messengers to be compared - or: Comprehensive Confidentiality Review & Audit: Encrypting E-Mail-Client & Secure Instant Messenger, Descriptions, tests and analysis reviews of 20 functions of the applications based on the essential fields and methods of evaluation of the 8 major international audit manuals for IT security investigations including 38 figures and 87 tables" (PDF). Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ "Chat apps surpass SMS for the first time, study finds". 29 April 2013.
- ISSN 0021-9916.
- ^ a b Horwitz, Josh (25 August 2015). "Why WhatsApp bombed in the US, while Snapchat and Kik blew up". Quartz. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "IM Security Center". Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
- ISSN 1797-1993. Archived from the originalon July 26, 2011. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
- ^ Chris Christiansen and Rose Ryan, International Data Corp., "IDC Telebriefing: Threat Management Security Appliance Review and Forecast"
- ^ Dredge, Stuart (2014-11-06). "How secure is your favourite messaging app? Today's Open Thread". the Guardian. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ "Secure Messaging Scorecard". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- .
- .
- ^ a b c d e "Cybersecurity 101: How to choose and use an encrypted messaging app". TechCrunch. 25 December 2018. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "ESG compliance report excerpt, Part 1: Introduction". Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
- ^ FINRA, Regulatory Notice 07-59, Supervision of Electronic Communications, December 2007
- ^ a b "Messaging App Usage Statistics Around the World". MessengerPeople. 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "Hootsuite 🦉 on Twitter: "There are now only 25 countries around the world where a Facebook-owned app isn't the top messenger platform..." / Twitter".
- ^ "11 New People Join Social Media Every Second (And Other Impressive Stats)". Archived from the original on 2018-01-30.
- ^ "Most Popular Messaging Apps by Country - Similarweb".
- ^ "Most Popular Messaging Apps: Top Messaging Apps 2021 - Respond.io".
- The Philippine STAR.
- ^ "Viber expands foothold in the Philippines in 2021 - BusinessMirror". BusinessMirror. 17 December 2021.
- ^ "When chatting apps can be overwhelming - VnExpress International".
- ^ "Discord, Slack for gamers, tops 250 million registered users". CNET. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "eBuddy Blows Through 250 Million User Accounts, Android Up 300% – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. 21 September 2011.
- ^ 900 million active users. Retrieved 7 April 2016
- ^ "Facebook Messenger: monthly active users 2017". Statista. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ "Information: Facebook's Messenger has overtaken Apple's iMessage". marketwatch.com. 17 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-08-08.
- ^ "Kik already has over 6,000 bots reaching 300 million registered users". Tech Crunch. 11 May 2016.
- ^ "LINE: number of monthly active users 2016 | Statistic". Statista. Retrieved 2017-04-22.
- ^ "New features to celebrate Messages' 1 billion RCS users". Google. 2023-11-30. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
- ^ "26 Amazing Skype Statistics and Facts (2019)". expandedramblings. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
- ^ "Number of estimated Skype users registered worldwide from 2009 to 2024". statista. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
- ^ "26 Amazing Skype Statistics and Facts (2019)". expandedramblings. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
- ^ "34 Million People Concurrently Online on Skype – - Skype Blogs". Skype Blogs. Archived from the original on November 18, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ "Number of monthly active Snapchat users 2013-2016". Statista.
- ^ "700 Million Users and Telegram Premium". Telegram. 2022-06-21. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
- ^ Telegram Messenger [@telegram] (January 12, 2021). "Telegram surpassed 500 million active users" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Telegram tops 1 billion downloads". TechCrunch. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
- ^ "Mind-Blowing Viber Statistics for 2019". statista. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
- ^ "Mind-Blowing Viber Statistics for 2019". 99firms. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ^ "Number of unique Viber user IDs from June 2011 to March 2020". statista. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
- ^ Shreya (2022-09-05). "WeChat Statistics 2022 - How Many Users Does WeChat Have?". AdChina.io. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ^ "Number of WeChat Users [Updated Feb 2023] | Oberlo". my.oberlo.com. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ^ "WhatsApp: number of users 2013-2017 | Statista". Statista. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
- ^ "Two Billion Users -- Connecting the World Privately". blog.whatsapp.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
- ^ "Number of daily active WhatsApp Status users from 1st quarter 2017 to 1st quarter 2019". statista. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ^ This number is based on the number of Facebook accounts ("500 Million Stories | Facebook". Blog.facebook.com. Retrieved 2013-07-11.) Google talk and WLM accounts. ("Anyone can build a Messenger client—with open standards access via XMPP". Windowsteamblog.com. Retrieved 2013-07-11.) Further, as there are many other open source servers (some also with companies behind it), the number provided is probably too small. However, many of these servers are not federated, and so, do not actually interact as is usually expected of XMPP servers.
- ^ 91 million Active BBM Users. Retrieved 6 March 2015
- ^ "Element group video messenger | Group chat | Team communication productivity app | Matrix open network | Decentralized end-to-end encryption". element.io. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- ^ "Brands | Gadu Gadu". Naspers.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ "IBM instant messaging links to AIM, Yahoo, Google". CNET. Reuters. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
- ^ Speed, Ilya Khrennikov 2014-07-29T18:43:55Z- Comments Email Print. "ICQ Messenger Is Growing for the First Time in Years". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "IMVU Information". Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ "IRC Has Lost 60% of Its Users Since 2003, but Life as a Robot is Just Beginning". 6 January 2013.
- ^ "PalTalk: It Was "Flattering" To Be Included In The PRISM Slidedeck". TechCrunch. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
PalTalk, a profitable group video chat site that's been around for more than a decade and has about 5.5 million monthly uniques [...]
- ^ MXit federates with the Google Talk network.
External links
- Instant Messaging at Curlie