Gary Roy writes about the Facebook IM: Chit Chat for Facebook

I haven’t visited the Facebook website for days now and I must admit I don’t really miss it.   I had a problem with something so I thought I’d just take a break from Facebook.   You might consider me an UN-happy camper.   Here’s what happened.

My girlfriend has a Facebook profile too, and, on her account, she’s posted pictures of us together and added something to her Facebook profiles, letting the world know that she and I are in a ‘relationship’.   I had no problem with this.   We ARE in a relationship (14 months and counting) and, although it’s not my style to announce this kind of information to the world, I thought that it was fine for her to let her friends know that she was happily involved with the man ‘of her dreams’.

That was before one of my previous girlfriends latched on to this piece of information thanks to Facebook feeds I guess. My previous girlfriend started to send Facebook messages of a dubious nature.   I wasn’t counting on this complication.   I know there are ways to filter out who sees what and who can comment on which things on Facebook, but I’ve never previously been concerned about who sees information posted to Facebook.   It’s probably just a few simple clicks, and I now need to take care of that.

Here’s the good part of the story.   Whilst I’ve been avoiding the Facebook site recently, I still like to keep my communication lines open with my contacts on Facebook, and I’ve been able to do that.

I gave up on the Facebook Chat on Facebook’s website a couple weeks ago, when I found a way to bypass the whole thing and yet still keep in contact with the people on my friends list.   I wasn’t too fond of the Facebook Chat anyway, due to its bare-bones presentation and lack of so many functions I’d grown used to with other IM platforms.

I found out about a little ancillary program out there called Chit Chat for Facebook, it’s a Facebook Chat IM [Windows Only].   It works right along with Facebook, using the same contacts list, user name and password, but it stands by itself, over to the side or somewhere in the back of everything else on the PC.   Here’s what it’s meant to me.

If I want to know who’s online on Facebook or want to talk to someone on my list I don’t have to sign onto Facebook with my browser.   Instead, I just click the green Chit Chat icon in my tray and up pops my Facebook contact list.

Not only can I see who’s online on Facebook and who isn’t.   I can post on someone’s wall or make a comment.   If I want to talk to someone on my Facebook buddy list they’re only one click away, and this Facebook IM that I use is full of lots of things the regular Facebook Chat doesn’t have.   It’s so much better than before.   Maybe you should try it.     You’ll like it. Chit Chat for Facebook – it’s very cool, slick and convenient.