IM

IM

Instant messaging or IM is a real time text-based method of communication through an application such as Skype, Yahoo! Messenger and Microsoft Messenger.

IM applications allow you to send and receive text messages with immediate receipt and reply. In order for IM to work effectively, the person who you're messaging with needs to be online at the same time. You can see if your contacts are online via their status icon.

You can IM through Skype by simply double clicking on a contact and selecting the chat button or right clicking on a contact and select Start chat or selecting the blue chat icon on a Mac.