I think Skype, since the death/merge of MSN/Live messenger, has been the undefeated general instant messenging platform of choice for a long time now.

Pidgin & Skype !

Sure! When selecting the Protocoll, which one should I look for?
All I can see is:

AIM
Bonjour
Facebook
Gadu-Gadu
Google-Talk
Group-Wise
ICQ
IRC
MSN
MXit
MySpaceIM
SILC
Simple
Sameime
XMPP
Yahoo

https://code.google.com/p/skype4pidgin/

https://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/ThirdPartyPlugins

Google-Talk and Facebook also use XMPP.

So I'd say XMPP but Skype is also commonly used by many furs

You could also add "muck" to this list if you want something fast, simple, private, and different from the others. You can go to a private room (just like an irc channel) or use page (like irc MSG) for d.m. chat.
Anyone can muck chat using Telnet, or (just like other messengers) people can download a client and the system is straightforward text using prefixes similar to IRC .. ( " for say and : for pose )
Good luck in your quest!

Can you tell me what this "muck" might be? I suppose it has to be close to Furrymuck or something, which I could only hear about, but not even being a part of it at its beginning, since I didn't have my own PC, nor internet connection to that reliable level unlike nowadays, till 2005-2006.

...I sent ya an email ^V^

Anna:

Gadu-Gadu is rather a Polish communicator, I guess only(/almost only) Poles use it^^;

I'd strongly prefer Jabber, for it being increasingly encrypted all the way (the operators are working on enforcing encryption in the entire network), decentralized, and widely supported by just about any multi-protocol messenger. It also has increasing support for audio/video chat if that's your sort of thing. Most servers allow off-line messages as well to be delivered upon login.
(And as long as Google doesn't completely shut off XMPP compatibility you should even be able to talk to your GTalk contacts from any jabber server).

If you want all communication to be audited and screened, use Skype :P

Anyone can read anything you write/type/look at on the internet. The NSA has already cracked a few encryption methods as proven by Snowden. However, if anyone is as paranoid to be about being on the internet, well in all honesty, they don't belong on it. lol. If they want to see all the furry porn i link to everyone, so be it. What do i have to hide? I'm not breaking any laws, so why hide unless you are? Not trying to be rude, but i just don't understand the nonsense about hiding behind encryption and hiding behind VPNs because big brother is watching.

Heck, although the companies have lied about it, Snowden has released documents showing all major companies are in bed with the NSA. Miscrosoft, Google, Apple. You name it. I bet they get a fat check too for letting the NSA pry into their networks. The NSA can intercept facebook conversations, and mine your data through facebook.

None of it matters. The NSA is not out to look for your stash of porn, read your yiffy yaffy RPs, or listen in on your sex voice calls, or read your sexting messages. They've got far better things to do, like protect a country. Does it violate our rights? Sure, but it beats the hell out of getting attacked again. Just like everybody who uses proxies or VPNs. I always say, they use them, they've got something unlawful to hide. I don't. I own and operate a few large websites and scour the web weekly and continuously block VPNs/Proxies constantly. They've no need to connect to my network. Usually ( from my experience as network security administrator ) they hide because they are up to no good.

Jabber registration has also been offline since june, from my understanding. Pending a migration of databases. Gtalk has now become google hangouts. The desktop gtalk client no longer works, and i believe will be shut down completely soon, if its not already. It's dead. Which is a terrible mistake on their part, because Google Hangouts is just terrible and has no options to do anything helpful.( could be wrong about the last part )

If you're not paranoid about big brother knocking on your door because your peddling furry art, i would suggest Skype. Most still use it, because no one cares. Hangouts is okay, but its poor in the terms of a program all together. It's missing many needed features. Despite the entire "skype storing logs" thing, its still the most widely used, for now.

Derp. It's nearly 6AM and no sleep. This post was for wolfbeast. And ( for the OP ) my opinion that skype is still the most widely used. :p

I did honestly not expect the topic be brought being paranoid if NSA is watching me or not, but let me clear this one here now: I do not care if NSA watches me or not, so be it, they will find a dozen of irrelevant and off-commerse things that are highly against trends, that is all I can guarantee.

I meant privacy under having a decent amount of people on my contacts who I know them as friends and I am okay with them.
That's about it. =)

No no, my apologies. That post was more or less for wolfbeast. He seems a little paranoid. :v lol. If you want privacy, try skype. I dont think you can even remove someone from your hangouts list, unless you ban them. ( Could be wrong, but thats how it used to be. ) It has very little privacy options. That alone makes me sad, because although google plus is dead, Its much more easier to manage and not clustered with useless ads :p

Skype is probably the most widely use IM service so I believe that is the best way of dealing with this.

You are also able to log in to two Skype accounts at once, here is a support page that describes the process:
https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA.....indows-desktop

Okay, seems like this would be pretty much the solution here, since skype is proven to be widely used, despite the fact it gets sloppy after a while of messages piled up together to a mass and loading time might suffer a lot unless oyu have it installed on an SSD, and I have my reasons to detest Skype's providers, but not going to share it here in order to prevent inflamation of discussions.

You can clear your own skype logs/history in the skype settings somewhere. I do that myself personally too.

Nah, I keep logs in case someone is being a tissy fit like it happened on December for instance and it helped me prove her wrong at so many levels. (I'm a god damn bastard archivist)

Ah good point. I suppose as an artist you'll need that. XD

In this case I might be a miniature instance of NSA or something x3 People get in touch with me, it stays logged almost forever!

Haha XD Yes please, could you go through my browser history and tell me the number to pizza hut? I misplaced the ad. =p

Okay, not in that level, but I hope you get my point.

haha of course i do. I was just kiddin. :P

Oh I kinda detest Skype myself for various reasons but the fact remains that this is still the most widely spread and used instant messenger available so there's really not many alternatives to pick from and even if you do you have to talk everyone else into getting it to which is difficult.

I'm very much on the Google Hangouts, especially as my phone has it. I don't have a skype, as it's a terrible piece of software. They really would need to change their whole business model to convince me to be a Skype user.

Same, especially on the smartphone side. When I used it, 50% of my battery was gone. I was quite surprised about the resource hungry methods. When an app is eating your phone up like that is a sign of the company must have been having issues developing their software to be less expensive on its working side. Lazy-programming skills.

With Jabber/XMPP you can also let people contact you without needing to register an account.

And do the majority of the fandom, rest of the people know these methods? I doubt so ^^"

They will if you provide a link. :P
For example: http://habahaba.im/example@server.org

Facebook and Skype nwnU

I forgot to mention:
There will be no power or god to have me reg to facebook ever. =)

for me skype and hangouts ^^*hugs the bird*

Id say Skype is most used and easiest for most by i use Gtalk still and love it too. (i didnt upgrade and dont plan too)

Well that's kind of a problem since it requires for others to install such programs. Skype is definitely to must popular but you can ask the commissioner to make an appointment on Livesteam or Usteam. So, instead of using a separate IM client you can have both the commission and chat-box available.

I use trillian Astra which relays between the differing instant messaging formats. Skype is find but resource intensive.

Trillian sucks furry Charr balls at so many levels... I tried it and file sending to multiple platforms failed so hard that I do not trust it anymore again. ^^

Skype and Steam. Even if you're not using it to play games, Steam works well for a chat client.

I still use Aim and Skype.

Moreorless skype.~


Probably the best way to get something amazing drawn up by you.~

Well, go for it, tum.pirata =P