Chatting

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Chatting can be one of the most fun (and most addictive!) things you can do on the Internet. Chatting is simply the sending and receiving of instant messages in real-time between people. With AOL Instant Messenger™ (AIM), you can choose to chat privately with another person or have group chats with many people in a chat room. Now that you've learned to setup and start AIM, and understand AIM's Buddy List and its features, you are ready to explore the world of chatting.

Sending an Instant Message - Sending a private instant message to a buddy who is online at the same time you are
Formatting a Message - Changing the look of a text message using the Instant Message formatting toolbar
Sending a Hyperlink to Someone - Sharing hot links with your buddies on AIM
Chat Room Chats - Exchanging instant messages with many buddies who are online at the same time you are in a group

Sending an Instant Message

To send someone an instant message, he or she must also be online the same time you are. You can tell if the person is online or not by looking at the Online tab of your Buddy List. If your buddy is online when you are, you should see one of the following icons next to his or her screen name in your Buddy List.

If you see a buddy's screen name displayed on the Online tab of your Buddy List, you can send him or her an instant message. To send someone an instant message, double-click on that person's screen name on the Online tab. A Send Instant Message window will appear with your selected buddy's screen name already in the To: field.

<--Send Instant Message Window

Type a short message to your buddy and click Send, or press "RETURN" or "ENTER." An Instant Message With: BuddyName window will replace the Send Instant Message window. You can now exchange instant messages with your buddy!

<--Instant Message With: BuddyName Window

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Formatting a Message

By using the formatting toolbar (below) in the Instant Message window, you can emphasize different parts of your messages using different fonts, font sizes, boldface, italics, underline, font colors, and background colors.

First highlight the text you wish to emphasize, then click one of the buttons to format the text.

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Sending a Hyperlink to Someone

If you've found a great Website on the Internet and want to share it with your buddies, you can do so easily by sending a hyperlink, or link to the site using the Instant Messenger feature. While chatting with someone, click on the Link button

on the Instant Message formatting toolbar. An Insert Hyperlink dialog box will appear.

<--Insert Hyperlink Dialog Box

Type the name of the Website in the Text: field (i.e. webLearner Website) and the Website address (URL) in the Address: field (i.e. http://weblearner.freeservers.com/), then click OK to send the link to your buddy.

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Chat Room Chats

With AIM, in addition to having private chats, you can also chat with groups of people at a time in one of AOL's chat rooms or in your own Buddy Chat room. When chatting in a chat room, you are exchanging messages with many people.

To chat in one of AOL's many chat rooms, click the AOL Chat rooms button on the Online tab of your Buddy List. A browser window will direct you to AOL's Chat Community. Here, you can click on a chat room about your topic of interest to begin chatting.
To chat in your own chatroom, click the Chat button on the Online tab of your Buddy List. A Buddy Chat Invitation dialog box will appear.

<--Buddy Chat Invitation Dialog Box

Type in the screen names of the online buddies you wish to invite (use commas to separate the names), then click Invite or press "RETURN" or "ENTER". You can also modify the Message to Send message and the name of your Buddy Chat room by clicking on the respective fields and renaming them. A Buddy Chat Room window will appear allowing you to chat with the buddies you've invited. Simply exchange messages with your buddies as you would by sending instant messages.

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