Chat

What Does Chat Mean?

Chat refers to the process of communicating, interacting and/or exchanging messages over the Internet. It involves two or more individuals that communicate through a chat-enabled service or software.

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Chat is also known as chatting, online chat or Internet chat.

Techopedia Explains Chat

Chat may be delivered through text, verbal, audio, visual or audio-visual (A/V) communication via the Internet. If conducted through a desktop, chat requires software that supports Internet Relay Chat (IRC) or an instant messenger application, where a central server manages chat communication between different end user clients.

There are also online chat services that require users to sign up with a valid email address. After signing up, a user may join a group chat room or send a private message to another individual. Online chat services have purpose-built chat interfaces that manage the entire communication processes.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…