Definition:
The term chat is the exchange of messages over the Internet that allows to establish an electronic conversation between two or more people. It is also called with this term to the services or apps that allow to maintain to maintain a conversation through chats in both a public and private way.
Chat history
This type of communication was born in 1972, when the first two-way conversation between two computers was achieved. This first conversation involved a psychiatrist and his patient and it was quite a revolution at the time.
In 1988, the scientist Jarkko Oikarimen,manages to create the IRC or Internet Relay Chat, the program that allows two or more people to communicate simultaneously.
After IRC, other chat services have been created that try to be better and better to meet the needs of an increasingly large number of users due to the emergence of smart mobile phones or Smartphones and Internet access in them.
Types of chats
Chat communication can be of several types:
- Text messages: As the name suggests, communication is done through text messages. In this type of chat you can also send images, videos, links and documents.
- Video calls: They are calls where audio and video are combined simultaneously and bidirectionally. Video calls facilitate communication between people who are not in the same city. These allow that during the duration of it you can share files and even the screen of another device.
- Voice messages: Many of the messaging apps have integrated the ability to send voice messages. This is very convenient for certain groups such as the blind.
The most used courier services
Among the best known chat services we can highlight:
- Whatsapp: The most used in the world since it was the first that revolutionized instant messaging. It was bought by Facebook in 2014.
- Telegram: This application was developed by the brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov in 2013 in Russia. It is one of the great competitors of WhatsApp.
- Skype: This application was created in 2003 in the Estonian city of Tallinn and was acquired by Microsoft in 2013. It is one of the most widely used video conferencing services in the world.
- Hangouts: Developed by Google, this messaging application is very versatile and allows the sending of all kinds of archÃvos. It has been expanded with the Google Meet video calling service.
- Zoom: Video conferencing service that has grown a lot lately. It is a serious competitor to Skype.
Practically all social networks that exist have their own chat since they all have the possibility to send private messages between contacts.
The best known are: