OnlineSchools.org created the History of Social Networking Infographic to visually share the rich 30-year history of social networking. Aside from the different facts and figures, it also includes some trivia or fun facts like the first e-mail ever sent contained the message “QWERTYUIOP” or Usenet was the birthplace of flame wars and trolling or that the first version of Myspace was coded only in 10 days. For some these information is old news but for some it’s completely new. Nevertheless I hope you guys enjoy it.

Click here to view the full sized image of the History of Social Networking Infographic.

There are numerous multi protocol IM clients like Trillian, Pidgin (formerly Gaim), Miranda, Adium (Mac only) and online ones like Meebo, Kool IM, eBuddy. I’ve tried most of them but the ones that I liked were Trillian and Pidgin. I used Trillian for quite a while but uninstalled it because it was a resource hog. I switched to Pidgin which was lighter and faster. Even though it lacked some features like video/audio chatting, I liked it and it worked for me. I even posted an article on how to upgrade Gaim to Pidgin on Ubuntu. I never thought I would stop using Pidgin, or so I thought.

The other day, I came across a new multi protocol IM client called Digsby. It was on private beta testing a couple months back and is now available to the public for free. I wasn’t really interested in trying it out or using it because I already had Pidgin, but eventually I ended up downloading and installing it on my machine. At first, I thought it was just another regular multi protocol IM client but after trying it out and going through its features, I realized that it was much better than the others I’ve previously tried and used.

Features:

• Multi protocol instant messaging – AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber Accounts
• Email – Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL/AIM Mail, IMAP, and POP accounts
• Social networks – Twitter, Facebook and Myspace
• Audio/Video Chat – support provided by TokBox
• File transfer manager
• Spell checker
• Block support – block contacts or
• Widgets

Screenshots:

Application skins

Conversation window themes

Email integration

Social network integration

I’ve since uninstalled Pidgin and now use Digsby. So why did I switch? Here are some of the reasons why I switched and the features that I like about Digsby.

• I can view a snapshot of recent emails in each email account registered, or go to the inbox or compose a new email (opens email account in browser).
• I can send emails via the IM/conversation window.
• I can reply to IM’s via pop-up windows. Comes in handy when you’re multi-tasking.
• I can set my Facebook status and get notifications/updates from Facebook or Myspace.
• I can update my Twitter status, view the timeline, archives, favorites and reply to updates.

My most favorite feature is Digsby’s integration with Twitter. Sometimes, I forgot to login to Twitter and I miss some of the good stuff that other folks share/talk about on Twitter. Now, I won’t miss any updates and I don’t have to login each time because I can do all the things I need to do on Twitter via Digsby!

Aside from all these, there are a bunch of other stuff that I can customize to fit my needs and preference making it easier for me to do multi-tasking. Digsby may or may not work for you and the only way to find out is to try it out yourself. If you use IM a lot on different accounts, then you should consider using a cross-platform product like Digsby. Plus if you’re on Facebook or Twitter, with Digsby you won’t have to login to each site just to check for updates. Right now, Digsby is only available for Windows users but don’t fret Mac and Linux users, because the developers of Digsby are working on Mac and Linux versions which will be released soon. You can sign up here so that you’ll be notified once these versions become available.

Do you use a multi protocol IM client? What particular IM clients are you using or have tried using before? For those who are using or have tried Digsby, how do you like it so far? Please share your thoughts.

*images taken from Digsby

Whenever you want to update a certain program in Ubuntu, most of the time you do it via the Synaptic Package Manager. Unfortunately this is not possible for Gaim. For Ubuntu users who’d want to update Gaim to Pidgin, you’ll have to do it manually.

In this post, I’ll show you the necessary steps in order for you to update Gaim to the latest version of Pidgin. Before you install Pidgin, you’ll have to make sure that you have the necessary SSL libraries to make MSN and Google Talk work. To do that, you need to open Terminal and run: sudo apt-get install libnss-dev libnspr-dev. Once you’ve done that, you can proceed to installing Pidgin.

Installing Pidgin:

• Open Terminal and run sudo apt-get build-dep gaim. This is to satisfy all dependencies for compiling Pidgin.
• Next thing to do is download the latest version of Pidgin.
• Open Terminal and cd (change directory) to the directory where you saved the Pidgin tarball (pidgin-2.*.*.tar.bz2).
• Run: tar xvfj pidgin-*
• Next, cd (change directory) to the extracted Pidgin folder and run this: ./configure
• Run: make
• Run: sudo make install

That’s it! You’ve just upgraded Gaim to the latest version of Pidgin. Now if you want to launch Pidgin you can do it via command line using pidgin, or pressing Alt+F2 and typing “pidgin”.

And for those who want to have a shortcut icon in the panel, what you need to do is copy the pidgin.desktop file from the extracted Pidgin folder and copy it to this folder: /usr/share/applications.

For those who don’t want to go through this whole process, you can just wait for the next release of Ubuntu because it will have Pidgin in it instead of Gaim.

Good news to Kool IM users out there. Version 2.0 has just been launched!

Compared to it’s previous version, this new version includes an embedded IM client right on the page. This is to address the problems that users having pop-up blockers have with the original version. In it’s six months of existence, Kool IM already has an average of 40,000 users a day.

The Kool IM staff also plans to add more IM networks and are in the process of negotiating with US carriers about the possibilities of a mobile version of Kool IM.

Kool IM is definitely working hard to keep up and compete with other services like Meebo and eBuddy. Although I rarely use this type of services, I still prefer Meebo over Kool IM and eBuddy because it’s simple and easy to use.

Check out the new Kool IM

Note: When using services like Meebo, Kool IM & eBuddy, make sure you sign off. Closing the window doesn’t sign you out and leaves your account online.

Kool IM is the latest thing in web chat services.

What is it you say? Kool IM is an Ajax instant messaging client that works with major instant messaging services that allows logging onto AOL, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk & Jabber, eliminating the need for an instant-messaging client on the user’s computer. The most popular web instant messaging clients are Meebo and eBuddy. While other competitors include ILoveIM and Mabber.

Kool IM integrates features from Meebo and eBuddy. It uses a pop-up window for the buddy list and for chatting like eBuddy. Like Meebo it allows users to create accounts, so you won’t have to login every time for each service.

I tried it out earlier and it was okay. Personally, I still prefer Meebo for one major reason, “pop-ups”. I hate pop-ups. Most browsers try to eliminate pop-up windows. In Meebo you have your buddy list and chat windows integrated inside the same browser window and you can drag them around or resize them.

These things are helpful especially if you’re in the office or the machine you’re using doesn’t allow you to install an instant messenger client. One example is a computer lab where as a simple user, you don’t have access to install programs. Just launch a web browser, type in the url, login to your accounts and you’re good to go!