Facebook introduces new instant message feature

Facebook Chat will be introduced to Facebook users this week. This feature will allow site users to instant message their friends who are online. Users can also have the option of keeping the instant message converstations at the bottom of the screen or in a pop-up window. While chatting with buddies, users can see their friends mini-feed activity. Mini-feed activity gives notifications when Facebookers have made status changes, multimedia uploads and any other changes to their page. There are also settings to make this feature private such as clearing the conversation history (a link is provided in each conversation) and choosing not to include mini-feeds in chat conversations. But why introduce instant messaging if there are already tools to communicate via Facebook? Facebook blogger Josh Wiseman says,

The Wall and Inbox have been the primary ways to communicate, but when more immediacy is necessary—for example when making plans for lunch in half an hour or arguing over a foul call in the NCAA tournament—they might not be enough. Chat aims to fill this gap…Chat is by no means a new concept, as instant messaging systems have been around for over a decade. But just as other features on Facebook have allowed friends to communicate more efficiently than before, we hope Facebook Chat will make it easier to connect instantly.