Software that lists users' selected "buddies" (friends, family, co-workers, and so forth) who are online and enables users to send short text messages back and forth to them. Some insta [..]

Instant Messengers are applications used to connect two (or more) people to communicate by text, audio or video, and share files in real time.

AOL's Instant Messenger is is a means of chatting over the Internet in real-time. It allows both open group discussions and private conversations. Instant Messenger uses a different, proprietary [..]

Also shortened to "IM." Software that lists a user's buddy list (who may consist of friends, family, co-workers, classmates, etc.) who are also online and enables users to exchange text [..]

(IM)

(communication,computing) A computer application which allows instant text communication between two or more people through a network or the Internet in its entirety.