03:07
Faizan
Facebook's chat system is based on the Jabber protocol, an open standard used by Google and other companies to provide chat support. Integrated into the Facebook Web interface, the chat system lets you know when friends are online, offline, or even logged in though idle.
Facebook Interface
In the lower-right corner of the main Facebook page is the Chat bar. The tab, when clicked, shows a listing of your current friends and their status. To save space, Facebook only displays those friends that are currently logged in to Facebook and have their Web browsers open. Some users may be utilizing a third-party chat client to access Facebook's Jabber chat services so they will appear consistently online.
Chat Statuses
Like all instant messaging services, Jabber has a way of broadcasting a user's status to the listing of friends. Unlike most other instant messaging services, the Jabber setup of Facebook does not provide a way to set away messages in the chat window. This means that there are only three possible states: online, away or offline. Offline users already do not appear in the list while online users appear with a green dot next to their name. The white dot shows idle users.
What Idle Means
On most instant messaging services, being marked as idle means you are completely away from the computer. However, Facebook sets you idle only if you have not clicked anything on Facebook for the last 10 minutes. Idle basically means that you are logged in to Facebook, but not currently browsing. This means that you can play computer games, work on local documents or even browse other websites in another browser tab or window all while remaining idle on Facebook.
Third-Party Chat Clients
Increasingly, many users are utilizing Facebook's chat services from another web-based or local client. When using a third-party chat client, it's important to remember that your status will not be automatically set for you. In fact, you will appear consistently online unless you set up your instant messaging application to broadcast an away or idle message. This can lead to missing dozens of messages while away that, depending on your instant messaging client, may be lost.
Facebook Interface
In the lower-right corner of the main Facebook page is the Chat bar. The tab, when clicked, shows a listing of your current friends and their status. To save space, Facebook only displays those friends that are currently logged in to Facebook and have their Web browsers open. Some users may be utilizing a third-party chat client to access Facebook's Jabber chat services so they will appear consistently online.
Chat Statuses
Like all instant messaging services, Jabber has a way of broadcasting a user's status to the listing of friends. Unlike most other instant messaging services, the Jabber setup of Facebook does not provide a way to set away messages in the chat window. This means that there are only three possible states: online, away or offline. Offline users already do not appear in the list while online users appear with a green dot next to their name. The white dot shows idle users.
What Idle Means
On most instant messaging services, being marked as idle means you are completely away from the computer. However, Facebook sets you idle only if you have not clicked anything on Facebook for the last 10 minutes. Idle basically means that you are logged in to Facebook, but not currently browsing. This means that you can play computer games, work on local documents or even browse other websites in another browser tab or window all while remaining idle on Facebook.
Third-Party Chat Clients
Increasingly, many users are utilizing Facebook's chat services from another web-based or local client. When using a third-party chat client, it's important to remember that your status will not be automatically set for you. In fact, you will appear consistently online unless you set up your instant messaging application to broadcast an away or idle message. This can lead to missing dozens of messages while away that, depending on your instant messaging client, may be lost.
Posted in: facebook
