GROUP CHAT TASK

I enjoyed the task and used the information posted on Blackboard to set up my chats.

1. I had three chats using Google Talk that were very informative but the weight of opinion seemed to be that Messenger was a superior method, there were five of us in the final chat. I had set up Messenger but had not used it till after the Google discussions. Two students felt SKYPE was the way to go due to their use of this system in the work environment. One student was reluctant to use ICQ for security reasons.
   
2. Messenger was easy to use and has a lot more feature than Google Talk. The consensus of this chat was Messenger was the way to go and two of the three students had not used other chat methods.
3. SKYPE, I have found easy to use but without a lot of the bells and whistles that Messenger has. It is easy to set up and most of my friends use it extensively. I did not use it as part of this task.
   
4. ICQ I failed to use despite having located six fellow students and adding them to my contacts. At no stage during this exercise did I see one of them online or get a response indicating an interest in having a group chat.

It seemed that most people felt that chats were just as useful in the work place as they are for socializing, with some of the group obviously more at ease in this environment (chatting) than others. Those students more experienced in group chats seemed to bond quickly and be quiet at ease, with one chat going late into the night.

I strongly believe that Google wave will be the next big thing in online chatting and Internet communication, as it will remove the time lag from discussions and we will see shared sheets and information in real time.