How to Send an IM

Use IM to chat with friends and family in real time online.

Instant messaging is the most instantaneous form of online communication, after voice or video chat. In as many seconds as it takes you to type a message and press "Enter," the recipient can read it. Although sending an IM is a short process, the setup on IM programs can complicate the matter by making the necessary buttons difficult to find. Fortunately, once you know how to use one IM program, you'll know how to use them all.

Instructions

1. Look at your friends' email addresses to determine which email provider most of them use. If you want to send IMs to only one friend, check his email address. This will tell you which email service provides the IM program you need.

2. Visit the website that follows the "@" sign in the email addresses. Sign up for an email account with the provider and download the provider's IM program to your computer if you haven't already. Some, but not all, providers require you to do this in order to send IMs to your friends who use that provider.

3. Start the IM program on your computer. Sign in to your account.

4. Click "Add Contact," or a similar button, on the IM program menu. Type your friend's email address and submit it to add your friend to your contacts list. This will enable you to see when your friend is available to receive IMs.

5. Click your friend's name on your contacts list to open an IM box. Type your message. Press "Enter" to send it.

References

• Yahoo!; How to Send an Instant Message with Messenger; November 2010
• Google: Sending an Instant Message
• AOL: How Do I Send Instant Messages with AIM?
• Yahoo!: IM with Friends on Other Networks