Chat usually requires one site as the repository for the messages, the chat site, and a group of users who take part from anywhere on the Internet. In some cases, a private chat can be arranged between two parties who meet initially in a group chat, or 'page' each other. Chats can be ongoing or scheduled for a particular time and duration. Most chats are focused on a particular topic of interest and some involve guest experts or 'personalities' who talk to anyone joining the chat. Transcripts of a chat can be archived for later reference.
Text chat is the most basic form of Internet chat.
It consists of two or more people communicating in real time by typing messages that appear in a text window, visible to the people in your chat room. Many text chat programs let you view a list of users who are in the chat room with you, and to send private messages to other users. Private messages are seen only by you and the person to whom you send the message. Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, is the oldest established text chat system. To chat on IRC, you use a program such as mIRC for the PC, or Ircle for the Mac, to log in to an IRC server through a direct Internet connection.