Yahoo Messenger Frequently Asked Questions

What is Yahoo Messenger?

Yahoo Messenger (henceforth abbreviated to YM) is sort of a cross between email and a chatroom. Now, I know what you're probably thinking: chat is for teenagers! But before you dismiss it, you may want to give it a try. When telephones were invented, most people pooh-poohed them. They said, I can write a letter - what on earth would I need a telephone for? Yet most of us can't imagine living without one these days. Chat is to email as the telephone is to postal mail. Obviously postal mail and email have not outlived their usefulness and aren't likely to, and they're clearly preferable for some things. But sometimes there's no substitute for the immediate interaction provided by a phone call or a chat.

Yes, but what does YM DO?

YM does a number of useful things, but it's primary use is to let you send "instant messages" to the people you want to chat with.

What's an instant message?

An instant message is similar to an email message, but it appears in a little window and displays both sides of your conversation with the other person, essentially instantaneously.

How exactly do I begin a conversation?

YM contains a sort of personal directory, called a Friend List, to keep track of your friends. You decide who to add to your friend list. YM will also tell you which of your friends are online. To talk to someone in your friend list, just double-click their name and a chat window will open.

What's a Conference?

The Conference feature lets you chat with more than one person at a time. You invite who you choose (or someone else invites you). No one can drop in on your conference unless someone in the conference invites them. It's kind of like a conference call on the telephone.

I have a microphone. Can I use it to talk to my friend, with my voice I mean?

Yes, so long as your friend's computer has a sound card (virtually all computers do these days) and speakers or headphones. Just click the Voice button in your chat window and hold it down while you're talking - kinda like the walkie-talkie you may have played with as a kid. (Or you can check the Hands Free button and it will pick up everything you say without having to press the Talk button every time.) Note: there's sometimes a slight delay with voice chat, but if you can put up with it, this might be a nice way to talk to faraway friends without the long distance bills. :-)

My friend has a webcam. How can I see them?

Your friend should make sure their webcam is properly installed (usually a simple matter of plugging it in and using the install disc that came with it). Then they just press the Webcam button in the chat window and click Broadcast. You'll see a window pop up on your computer that asks if you want to view your friend's webcam. Just click yes.

You said before that YM does other things. What other things?

-If you have a yahoo mail account, it will tell you when you get a new email message.

-If you use the yahoo calendar feature, it will remind you about your appointments.

-It can be set up to send you weather reports, news or sports updates, stock quotes, and airfares, among other things.

-It will let you send text messages to cell phones.

-It will let you save your conversations in an archive.

-It will let you sign in in invisible mode, so you can see who else is on without letting them know you're signed in. (This can be handy if you don't have time to chat with whoever shows up, but there's a certain person you need to talk to.)

-You can block people from sending messages to you. (This a safety feature, just in case you meet someone who sends nasty stuff to you.)

How hard is it to install?

Pretty easy. Just go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/ and under Quick Download, click the link that's appropriate for you. For most of us, that's likely the Windows version. Then just follow the prompts.

Then what?

-In order to use it, you will need a yahoo id. (If you're on one of the yahoogroups mailing lists, you already have a yahoo id, of course.) You can get one at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/groups-48.html and then click the Register link. You will need to either give it your email address, or accept the option to create a free yahoo mail account.

-You need to have someone to talk to! Adding friends is easy, so long as you know their yahoo id. Just click the Add button on your friend list, check the Yahoo id button, click Next, enter their yahoo id and a group name (most of my friends are in my BATB group). If you want, you can enter a message to include in your friend request. Then click Finish. In the box that pops up next, click Yes if you'd like to add more information, otherwise just click No.

Or if your friends already have YM, it might be easier at first to just send them an email and tell them you have YM and they'll send you a friend request. Friend requests look like this. To accept them as a friend and add them to your own friend list, click Accept & Add.

This all sounds cool, but I'm nervous about installing stuff on my computer.

Installing the software isn't difficult. So far as we can tell, YM doesn't do anything evil to you or your computer, although it has been known to crash now and then. As Yahoo has updated YM over the last couple of years, it has become more reliable and stable.

No way, man!

If you absolutely refuse to install new software, and if you also have java already installed on your computer, you might try the new web version of YM. Go to this page: http://messenger.yahoo.com and click the web messenger link near the bottom of the page. You will still need a yahoo id for yourself and you'll need to know the yahoo ids of your friends. You can talk to friends one on one, but there are no conference features, no voice or webcam support, and none of the other features mentioned above. (At least, there weren't as of this writing. Perhaps Yahoo will add them in the future.) This will at least give you a a small taste of how YM works though. (Note: If you have a popup blocker, it may block the windows the web messenger pops up.)