The busy routines and schedules of each individual these days leave us no time to call people all around the world and go out on dates. It’s always easy to chat online with your sweetheart rather than sending mails back and forth. Instant replies are gotten which keeps the relationship fresh and moving and a person is updated on the new things happening in other people’s life. IM users do not have to worry about their appearances while chatting online which save the hassle of dressing up and going out to a fancy place when a couple can stay at home, enjoy the company of each other and have a good time.
The best thing about instant messaging is majority of the people feel comfy and confident talking over the internet rather than face-to-face. An IM user can express oneself better with winks and emoticons available by a messaging service provider to make instant messaging more fun. An IM user can use default emoticons or download new ones from a website and use them to express their feelings, thoughts and moods. Avatars are also a great way to show your personal pictures or share your favorite pictures with your contact list. Webcams have made messengers more thrilling where IM user can chat while seeing each other.
The instant messaging is now so common the user base of them is growing day by day. User’s base estimates for some of instant messengers are as follow:
AOL Instant Messenger: 53 million active users
MSN Messenger: 29 million active users
Yahoo! Messenger: 21 million active users
ICQ: 15 million active users
The estimates show that there is a lot of competition due to which each messenger service provider is coming up with fresh and improved versions to have the most active users.
The use of instant messaging for online matchmaking and dating is the right way to use a great resource like internet. With over 300 million IM users today, this is a tool that can’t be overlooked. It gives everyone of any group age, occupation, culture or country to find its perfect match while staying at home. IM users have a block option to avoid wasting time reading messages from people they do not want to communicate with. Instant messaging gives you control on who you want to talk to and who should see you online, status changing can help your buddy list to know if you are available to chat with. With instant advantages come some instant drawbacks as well for instant messaging like malware, Trojans or hackers hacking into your computer. These problems are provided reliable solutions that can keep you safe on the World Wide Web and let you make the most out of this technology.