Expanded Forums for Social Networks and Mobile Devices

For seven years, BigBlueBall has been one of the few reliable resources on the web for coverage of all instant messenger networks. In those seven years, we’ve seen IM products come and go, and been here with you all the way. Your instant messaging contact list was then, and still is today, the original social network.

Today, technology gives us lots of choices for connecting with our friends, family and associates. Social networks like Myspace, Facebook and Twitter let use keep our friends up-to-date with a persistent that isn’t matched by IM. Mobile technology helps us stay connected no matter where or when.

To help you sort out the veritable plethora (gawd I’ve wanted to say that for so long!) of connection options, we are expanding BigBlueBall to cover all the ways you can stay connected. To begin, we have added two new forum sections.

The new Social Networks section has forums for Myspace, Facebook and other social networks.

And the Cell Phones, Mobiles & PDAs section includes forums for Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Apple’s iPhone, Google Android and others.

Thanks to Philip for getting the ball rolling with his poll, and thanks to all of you who shared your view of where BigBlueBall should be moving.

Now join me in the forums and bring your tips, links, and questions.

Yahoo! Messenger

Yahoo! Messenger is one of the most popular instant messengers. It’s well-integrated with the myriad of Yahoo services out there, so if you’ve ever signed up for Yahoo! Mail or My Yahoo!, you can use the same login and password for Yahoo! Messenger (and vice-versa).

Yahoo! Messenger was initially released for Windows in 1998 as Yahoo Pager. Since then, Yahoo! Messenger has grown to include versions for Mac, Unix, web-based IM and–most recently–a web-based communicator called Pingbox. 

Yahoo! Messenger is free to download, supported by advertisements in the contact list and chat windows. It offers both basic chat services (text chat, emoticons, avatars), advanced features (file transfer, video and voice chat) and some unique capabilities (IMVironments). 

Yahoo! Messenger for Mac

Often when a program begins life as a Windows app, the Mac version is more of an afterthought. Yahoo! Messenger for Mac is an exception. It was designed from the ground up for the Mac, leveraging the common user interface elements of OS X. The Mac version compares well to the Windows version, with support for Yahoo! Voice as well. 

The Mac version is a hefty install though, consuming over 50MB of disk space.

Useful Links

• Download Yahoo! Messenger
• Yahoo! Messenger support forum at BigBlueBall
• Y! Messenger Plugin Gallery
• Y! Messenger Plugin Software Developers Kit (SDK)
• Call regular phones from Yahoo! Messenger

Last updated on March 14, 2009