Facebook is a great way to get in touch with old friends. You can post a note on a friend’s wall, send them an email message or you can comment on photos or links. However, Facebook chat is one of Facebook’s nicest features, especially when it comes to re-connecting with old friends or former colleagues. Facebook chat is an instant messaging system that is similar to other instant messaging systems. Like other instant message programs, you type a message, hit enter, it shows up on the recipient’s screen in the chat box and they type a response back. Both parties have to be logged on to use this function.
The following is a tutorial on how to chat on Facebook:
1) Log into Facebook.
2) Look at the bottom right hand corner of your screen for the bar with a number on it that says “Chat.”
3) Click on that bar.
4) Select the person you want to chat with by clicking on their name.
5) Type in your message and press “enter”. A chat screen will pop up on their page.
Like many other instant message programs, if you log off before someone replies to a chat your last message, the next time you log on the conversation will be there and you can see what they had to say. Facebook archives the chat for a time. However, Facebook does not send notifications of any sort to your email referencing chat. In addition, Facebook chat is between you and the person with whom you are chatting; it does not post anything to your wall nor is there any indication of who you have been chatting with.
If you do not need or want to chat, but want to converse back and forth, you can use the “message” function to send someone a message on Facebook and they can reply. It will show the whole string of messages together, this way there is no need to think back and try to recall what you said when you messaged them. This is much like email, and is sent quickly. However, for back and forth communication, instant message chat is a better option. However, the advantage of sending a message rather than chatting is that they will get the message whether they are online or not. The next time they log into Facebook they can get it.