Once upon a time, instant messaging was restricted to chat rooms, and you needed special accesses and moderator's approval to enter into the world of chatting. Things are not restricted anymore. Chatting has become the most popular communication among general public and widely used in corporations. You can visualize chat as a telephone call, where the words spoken are in the written form instead of spoken. It can also be looked as an extension to e-mailing where the communication is no longer passive, and information exchange happens instantaneously.

There are pros and cons coming out of business instant messaging—instant messaging in companies. There are numerous good things. Productivity increases immeasurably when communication takes place through an instant messenger. While one can communicate while multi-tasking, the response to the information sought is almost immediate. There is no dedicated time that needs to be spent on communication like with telephones...