by Brigid Bishop

Created on: November 18, 2009

Chatting on a social networking site has never been easier than using Facebook Chat.

In the bottom right-hand corner of Facebook the word "Chat" appears, when you click on "Chat" a pop-up appears of all of your currently signed in Facebook friends. If a green circle appears next to their name it means that they are actively using their keyboard on the site and they are available to chat, if a green semicircle appears, it means that they are logged into the site, but they are not actively using the keyboard at this time.

To initiate a "Facebook Chat" simply click on the name of the person you wish to chat with. A new window will open as a pop-up at the bottom of the page and you simply begin typing your message. Your Facebook friend will hear a tone on their computer indicating that someone is initiating a chat with them, and they will see "New Message from (Your Name)" at the tab on top of their Facebook page.

Your chat partner can then type a message back to you and continue to converse privately back and forth for as long as you wish to continue. If you wish to close the chat box and end your conversation, simply click on the "x" at the top of the chat box.

If you prefer to not be contacted for chatting while you are actively on Facebook, click on chat, then click on the tab that says "Options", you can then click on "Go Offline" so that others may not contact you while you are using the site.

When you are available for chatting, a green circle appears by the word chat at the bottom right of your Facebook screen, when you are unavailable, a grey circle appears before the word chat with the word (Offline) appearing.

You may have multiple chats going with as many friends as you wish at any time you use the chat feature. A separate chat box will open for each chat you participate in, as all Facebook chats are one-on-one.

You may also click on chat and click on options to choose whether you wish to hear sound for new messages, switch to pop-out chat to utilize a larger chat box, re-order your friend's list appearance and keep your friend's list open to see who is actively on line while you are involved in a chat.

You may also access chat by going to a friend's profile page directly. In the upper left corner below their profile picture you will see a link that says "Chat with (Member Name)" if they are actively online and available to chat. Click that link and begin your chat as described above.

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