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Alternate means of instant messaging on the desktop – Matt Maldre

Alternate means of instant messaging on the desktop

Did you use Yahoo Messenger back in the day? How about AOL Instant Messenger? Both of these services have died out in favor of mobile texting. Do you grow wearing of tippy-tapping messages on a cell phone? Talking on desktop is much lighter with a total keyboard. But the desktop has seen some of its big message apps like Yahoo and AOL die out years ago.

Gratefully there are fresh alternatives for talking on desktop.

Google Hangouts, of course (or also known as Google Talk). If you are on a Mac, use the Adium app. You don’t have to keep a browser window open all the time. Just add your Google account to Adium, and you are ready to go! In fact, while you are in Adium, go ahead and add your AOL Instant Messenger account. It doesn’t hurt! Just don’t bother adding Microsoft Lync or Yahoo Messenger to Adium. Unluckily, those two do not work in Adium.

Messages is another superb app for Mac users. Not only does it treat the iOS iMessages, you can also add Google, Yahoo, and AOL! If Messages does all these, why use Adium for Google and AOL? Because Adium has better talk archiving features. Plus, I like the tabbed interface of Adium better. You can even customize the Adium talk window to your exact specs.

To help clarify: here are the services that Adium and Messages can do:

  • AOL IM
  • Google Hangouts (not sure about movie)
  • Apple iOS / iMessage (with movie)
  • Yahoo Messenger

Tweetdeck messages column (for all accounts)

Here’s a crazy idea. Use Twitter Direct Messages as instant messages? I’m still attempting to make this one work, because there indeed isn’t an application that does this. The closest is Twitter’s Tweetdeck. If you have numerous Twitter accounts, you can even have one column that combines together all your accounts! However, there are no desktop notifications for Tweetdeck. If you want to be notified of a fresh DM on desktop, you have to use the Twitter desktop app. Confusing, I know. That’s why Twitter DM isn’t fairly there yet for IM abilities.

If you want to go even more crazy, dig back into your ICQ account. Yes. Hop back into the 90s and open up ICQ–it’s still around with apps for all platforms. But good luck finding anyone on the service. And if you want a slew of other standalone services, there is: Viber, Hipchat, Line, and Moped.

Then there’s Skype. But I heard it’s very buggy.

Facebook Messenger–where’s that on this list? Presently I cannot find any desktop applications on the Mac that support Facebook. You can only talk in Facebook through the website, or through mobile apps. no desktop apps. The same holds true for Whatsapp and Snapchat. Maybe one of these days, I’ll just set up my iPad with a bluetooth keyboard to use these message apps. However, that’s a lot of message apps to keep track of. That’s why I love Adium and Messages. They combine several services into one application.

I am always open to talks! A excellent majority of my blog post ideas come from instant message talks, so I always welcome IMs from people.

Here’s where you can reach me:

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one Comment on "Alternate means of instant messaging on the desktop"

In the past I have gotten Adium to work with the following services, but I am no longer able to get Adium to connect:

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About the author

Hi. I’m Matt Maldre. I’ve been working in the syndication business for over seventeen years. How do we create, read, and share? Fair and bold opinions on publishing and syndication in this weekly blog.

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Even tho’ your blog post here is about asking for help, I want to turn the tables a bit and say that your writing has often helped me. Specifically to stay abreast of what's happening in the digital publishing world. Thank you.

Your post here has clarified some issues I've had in my creative life for the past few years. I've found the quantity of my creative output decreasing more and more lately. I consume way too much, and create way too little. Whenever I have a fresh project and I create a fresh online account on, Twitter, Medium, or a Facebook Page, I get more worried about how that profile looks. In other words, the identity that it portrays. Which is downright bimbo, because I'm not doing the very thing that needs to be done–create content. And then once this identity (or brand) is established, I'll absorb myself in consuming. Today's online services are designed such that we consume and consume, and there is no stop to consuming. On Facebook, there is an endless scroll–"Sure! I'll click and read more." Liking content makes it way to effortless to simply click a button instead of leaving a comment. These services put people in a box and restrict them to view more and bring more ad dollars. So back to how your post clarified some issues in my creative life. I've absorbed myself into these screens/boxes way too much, and not enough in the real space of simply creating. (on a side-note, I discovered your blog by visiting Jon Udell's device that collects together latest annotations made to a webpage on Hypothesis. Your post, "Six Key Selves of Networked Publics" had a bunch of latest annotations.)

I'd love–LOVE–to see Walgreens use QR codes on their receipts for the sweepstakes. Injecting a 12-digit number into my browser to take survey is just ridiculous. With a QR code, it could take the user directly to a custom-made URL with the 12-digit number pre-entered.

I also walk across the DuSable bridge. about two hundred days in the year. Lots of people standing around taking photos. It's rather joy. One of the ways I attempt to protect pedestrians is by scolding cars that run through crimson lights. I'll even wag my finger in the air at them!

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