I'm more likely to chat on Friend Feed. :)

engtech

The new facebook chat is actually quite slick, but i feel like its probably just making firefox use even more memory. Also, way too many friends on facebook who I haven't spoken to in years I'd be afriad might start messaging me. I will probably start using it more though, maybe even more than gchat, if they make it so I can access it through pidgin or digsby. Both are great since its the only way alot of ppl get on when they are at work.

portezbie

I've had it for a week now and I like it. To be honest, I've been using Facebook more like an email/chat system lately. If Facebook and GMail were integrated in a useful fashion, I would probably start using Facebook as my main email system. Which seems odd now that I think about it--that concept makes me think of my old AOL days. Hmm...

jonny6pak

I just tried it and it's pretty useful. I still use meebo for my chatting needs but for those that are constantly connected to Facebook, like a needle in a junkie's arm, the new chat function is pretty sweet.

neuralien

I've actually had this feature for over a week now and it is pretty nice. I'm not sure I like the notifications being on the bottom, but I'll get used to it. It's been handy, but I'm so used to just clicking links on my browser's link toolbar that I forget that I am talking to someone!

11hawkinst

The facebook thingy is fantastic. It looks clean, sleak, and supports smileys. since I am online with facebook all day anyway, it is more useful for me to have it there (that makes me sound like a loser, doesn't it)

thegermandude517

@portezbie: "Also, way too many friends on facebook who I haven't spoken to in years I'd be afriad might start messaging me"

If you don;t want to be their friends, then don't mark them as friends.

/thinks the internet is destroying the word "friend"
//has like...30 friends.

Tony of TonyandJuan.com

Joel Seligstein a Software Engineer at Facebook stated in the #facebook channel on freenode that they were looking to implement the jabber protocol soon, and to make it so that you can connect with a jabber client "hopefully asap"

Shidobu

I'll start using it when they open up their protocol for integration into desktop clients. I use Pidgin now for other IM interfaces, hopefully they can support Facebook chat soon as well.

--Scott

Scott Wegner

I've already got a greasemonkey script installed to get rid of it; called Facebook Chat Killer.

uncballzer

@joannie: Now you have three comments.

I'll keep using Digsby for AIM and gTalk, but I love the Facebook chat feature because, being a college student, nearly everyone I know uses Facebook fairly regularly, while relatively few people I know use gTalk or other IM programs.
Options are good.

SenorDunda

I just got the Facebook chat today and it's really slick- very clean, easy to use, and non-intrusive. I am very impressed.

Joe

Fabulous... now I have two comments on there that say basically the same thing. (skip my second one) :)

joannie

Wow my whole comment deleted... any who... I was just saying that the only pitfall of the current Facebook chat is not allowing you to block certain users from seeing that you're online. There are just some people I'd rather not speak to through Facebook... (although we remain friends... they remain... annoying). Luckily, Facebook claims that a blocking function is to come... so I'll stay away until it's up and running with blocking power.

joannie

It's a great idea, but not one that will be particularly useful for me.

alexjohnc3

The problem with FB chat is that you can't block people (even if you have them in your limited profile). I have a few people that I'd rather them not know that I'm online (although we remain friends, they ...remain annoying). So until that feature comes in (which Facebook claims is on the way), I'll stay away :)

joannie

I tried to try it, but I had no friends online... I'll be keeping an eye out just to check it out, though. I don't chat too much, though, so I doubt it will be too useful to me. I do a fair amount of messaging through facebook, though, so maybe it will be useful if the person I'm messaging happens to be online at the same time.

jimb213

I prefer having my IM in a separate program. Facebook and GMail are both sites that I visit when I have business to do, and catching me for an IM session in those two minutes would be quite hard. I hope they open it up so you can connect with a jabber client, it'd make everyones life a lot easier.

kalleguld

Facebook has lost my trust with it's disregard for users privacy. Throw in the fact that it has become the forum of choice for "chain-mail" type spamming and I really try to stay as much away from facebook as possible.

A chat client within facebook does not at all appeal to me and certainly won't send me back. I have iChat / Google chat open when I am online anyway - I have no need, or want, for a facebook one also.

chrismehigan

I can never understand social programs like Google Chat. Honestly, I only know two other people who use Gmail at all. Things like Twitter? I have never met a single person who uses any of those so its pretty hard for me to even comprehend why on earth I should bother with them. However, I'm in college and nearly every person I know uses Facebook. Can you guess which would be more useful as a chat platform?

Excalibur

Man! Yet another chat "client" to keep up with?

I don't mind having web-based chat for the times I'm away from my own computer with a local client, but I really hate the fact that everyone is spread out over so many different services. That's the reason I've never been able to use Google Talk...because so few of my friends even use Gmail.

It'll be nice if they open up Facebook chat for Jabber, but I would be most happy if one day we could merge everything into one unified service that works for everything.

Tyson0016

The bullshit is that facebook is just another proprietary, unnecessary chat system. Why the hell can't they have just teamed up with Google or used an XMPP/Jabber implementation that was open?

akatsuki

@joannie: they're going to add the ability to show a different on/offline to different friend lists.

twins8791

I've only used it once, yesterday, when I was surprised by a friend who was in stealth mode (or whatever Facebook calls it.) I don't know what it looked like on his end, but I never saw anything like "Jake is typing..." so I had no idea if he'd crashed or was talking to his toddler or had been kidnapped by aliens. Then he said "This isn't working. Switch to Google Chat please?"

MissedTheExit

It's not bad, but I'll be happier when Digsby integrates with it.

Xanderificus

Call me when I can add it to Digsby... otherwise.. web based chat clients are for the birds.

zach

It's fantastic because it appeals to a much wider audience. Where only some users use Gmail, 99% of my friends are on Facebook - but previously chatting across Gmail, Aim, etc. was difficult and scattered. Now, even individuals who typically are not chat users are available and using chat. The popout interface is also excellent and the real time interfacing with status updates etc. is very useful.

Glamdering

It would be useful if Facebook uses Jabber so that I can use it in Pidgin/Gtalk.

John David

Like it, though it makes for a massive friend list - and as was noted, You need to be able to block/ignore people

AvatarZ

All this means is that Facebook is about to get banned by the rest of the workplaces that haven't banned it yet.

Confuzius

does anyone know if EVERYONE has it now? i remember when it was first released, it was released to different networks, but i don't know if that's true anymore..

rdecast

Another nod to having an external chat program, preferably one that interconnects with everything else. I don't use Gmail chat, and won't use Facebook chat. It's like we're reinventing the 90s all over again, only inside a web page. Why would I want to have to be on a web page to chat to friends? I'll be sticking with Pidgin for now.

edmicman

For me, there's no point in staying logged into Gmail to chat since I can add my Google Talk account to Adium.

samuraispy

Gmail has the advantage as far as buddy list is concerned - I'd rather look at a list of my contacts, who I regularly get in touch with, than a list that includes everyone I went to middle school with and no longer speak to. The tendency to collect friends on Facebook definitely works against the chat feature.

@rdecast: It was originally by network, but now it appears to be on a different schedule - a friend of mine got it last week, I got it Monday, and my roommate got it today, and we're all in the same network.

flidget

I agree with Voyager, because I like having the external chat capabilities. I like being able to move around the windows when and wherever I like. I use Digsby, and if facebook all of a sudden added functionalities similar or even better than gmail's, I might be convinced to switch to FBChat.

comosellama

@chrismehigan: Amen.

So, obviously I voted for Gmail. I don't trust Facebook any further than I can throw it -- and since Facebook is a website, I can't throw it, so no trust. Ha!

Besides which, even if I did trust Facebook, I prefer external programs. I run Pidgin when I want to chat, and don't spend more than five or ten minutes on Facebook a day. If I check it. So yeah, Facebook Chat = Lame, IMO.

Voyagerfan5761

Where's the "I use Pidgin, so screw this web-based stuff" option?

HeartBurnKid

I use both, but I'll likely use Facebook more. I'm so frustrated that no one uses IM or email anymore, and this might be the way to get my friends to actually communicate with me.

Ninjeff

I find Facebook as a whole fairly useless, so the idea of spending time there just to use Yet Another Incompatible Chat Protocol seems ludicrous. Adium, iChat, and Twitter more than cover the spectrum for me.

Logical Extremes

Digsby all the way. I'll use it when Digsby adds it.

gpzbc

@gpzbc: I'll use it when Digsby's memory use goes way way down AND it supports Facebook chat. It's actually kinda cool, but it's still web based chat and so much messes with your browser these days it's kind of a pain to NOT have a stand alone app.

JiveMasterT

Also, for those of you like me, who just want it all to work in an external client, I just turned up Babuki; seems to have started as a facebook app, then moved to a separate app.

Link: [www.babuki.com]

Theborg3of5

I'd say that this is useful in terms of what facebook brags about---that is, being able to chat in real-time---but I'll probably use the abovementioned script to kill it if it doesn't gain some outside (i.e., to pidgin, digsby, etc.) support soon.

Theborg3of5

I'm with Scott. I want all my chatting options in one place, since I have friends on AIM, Gmail, *and* MSN. Once facebook allows integration with Adium (and hopefully pidgin as well), I'll hop on the bandwagon. Until then ...

Jabronimus

I think the interface and functionality are very well done. There is more to it than gChat but it still seems very clean and out of my way.

Also better than gChat is that I have tons of contacts already in facebook and ready to go, meanwhile I have maybe 8-10 in gChat.

My main concern is that I don't like any browser chat. Right now I can use gChat within Adium. I am hoping facebook chat will support XMPP so that I can add it to adium as well... then I will REALLY be a happy camper.

gtpilot

I love the facebook chat! it's amazing! i have gmail too, but i never really got into that chat client. I like the minimalist way facebook did chating. It's not going to replace my iChat, but it's great for talking to friends who don't have AIM

guy_from_portland

I'm going to have to look for this tonight. I haven't used chat for years, but if it'll connect me live with friends it might be good.

igneousquill

the nice thing about Gmail chat is that it is an open protocol(jabber), unlike the closed facebook one. this fact makes it more easy and favorable to use.

dudube

If I must use the web for chatting I use Meebo.com

Why do people NEED 42 different chat programs/protocals!

AIM and ICQ already splits my US and non US friends, otherwise I'd only use 1 program. Meebo covers everyone in browser, and Pigdin out of browser.

Doesn't anyone remember when FB was the place to go to GET someone's AIM name or ICQ number?!?

bobgdotnet

That's easy enough. I'm on Facebook for about 15 minutes a day, whereas Gmail is open pretty much all day long. Still, there are people whom I don't email/chat with that often, and Facebook Chat's convenient enough to say hello and catch up for a bit.

sumants

Well most of my friends have MSN, so I use Adium mostly. But I can see the Facebook chat being useful for people I don't really plan I talking to over and over again.

Myles

The new Facebook-chat is awesome, and I think it might actually pose a threat to the bigger, more established IM-protocols - Especially if they release it as a standalone app.

Brutal

Besides not being a Facebook fan, I try to keep my browser closed when I don't need it to cut down on distractions (I restrict browsing to a certain period every day) so there is no way I would switch from my locally installed IM (Gtalk) to any web based one.

FlintZA

This is easy. No matter how good one may be against the other, all my friends use Facebook...none of them use Gmail chat. That, at least for me, makes Facebook the winner.

bobstarr

Another walled-in feature. I want to chat from a single multi-protocol client, Pidgin.

bjacobson

Facebook chat is a sleek client, but one thing I haven't noticed is the ability to "opt out" of the feature. I can turn off Google Chat if I'd like, but Facebook appears to be on by default and I'm not sure how I feel about that. As a feature, if it's what you're looking for, it's great though.

Sean Killeen

Meebo all the way.

Lawk Salih

I have many different contacts using different IM protocols (AIM, GChat, MSN, etc) for personal and work. I use Trillian (Astra beta) and it works great.
Imho, FBchat has the potential to dominate all else, especially once third party support is made available for the mainstream clients such as Trillian, Digsby, Pidgin, Meebo, etc.
Until it gets to that point, the only web chat I'll be using is Gchat via my Trillian interface. I'm not a fan of using web chat, I like having a client to control chat/windows/contacts.

GeekyAdam

for me GMail users predominate, hence GTalk (the application, not web page) is my favorite. My clients aren't about to sign up to FB just to be able to chat and a lot of them already have GMail accounts.

Dabbler

Or... none of the above, I use Pidgin.

Andrew Min

@Sean Killeen: on the far right is a little green dot that allows you to "appear offline" although I'm not sure if there's a way to set yourself offline by default. I agree that it would be nice to have a bit more control of your presence, however.

Keakealani

The Facebook chat certainly has a prettier interface than GTalk, but I have to say...I'd really rather have people contact me by AIM or something rather than an in-browser chat. I like not having a million windows and tabs open, and Adium already has an unobtrusive space on my desktop corner.

That being said, I can see the facebook chat being useful for contacting people I don't know as well but who are facebook friends, since often I don't have updated IM handles.

Mostly, I'm waiting for a group chat option and logging - planning would be more efficient in chat than a message thread, but right now that's not possible for multiple people and it doesn't log the chats well enough to serve as a double-check point for time&place.

Overall, I think Facebook chat is "too little, too late" as far as the chat market goes - it's nice, has potential, and harnesses a social networking group that may not be as present in other forms of communication; but it's not feature-rich enough or appealing enough to use regularly just yet, compared to other chats. /2¢

Keakealani

I've had Facebook chat for a few weeks now, and it's good in that it is visible while you are doing your social networking. There are people I only communicate with through Facebook. On the other hand, Gchat is much handier in keeping track of people on multiple networks (needs Meebo) and the logging and file sharing is easy to use.

ChrisGriswold

Where's the radio button for "I'll start using Facebook chat when Digsby supports it"? :) After the "Ask the readers" poll a few weeks ago, I use Digsby more than Gmail chat. And I never thought that would happen!

xgravity23