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Introducing Yahoo! Messenger

What Is...Installing Messenger and Signing InConnecting With Your FriendsShowing Your Online StatusGetting Started

Getting Started

Now that you’ve installed Yahoo! Messenger, you’re ready to start using the collection of features that let you communicate with your friends in a variety of ways.

Personalize Yahoo! Messenger and let your friends see your difference personalities and moods using:

  • Emoticons—a small character that shows someone how you feel during an instant message conversation. Happy Happy emoticon, Sad Sad emoticon, Laughing Laughing emoticon, and many more.
  • Avatars—special types of display images. Avatars are characters you can personalize and use when interacting with friends online. By changing hairstyles, clothes, accessories, and backgrounds, you can create your own unique persona.
  • Audibles—animated characters that say things out loud. Send them to someone in an IM conversation to say hello, goodbye, and more.

Customize Yahoo! Messenger to fit your needs through:

  • IMVironments—interactive backgrounds you can select when talking to your friends. Choose from many different IMVs in Yahoo! Messenger to express yourself.
  • Alerts and Sounds—audio and visual alerts that occur for specified events, such as when a contact comes or goes offline, or when an instant message arrives.
  • Skins—color schemes to use for your Messenger windows.
  • Stealth Settings—settings that allow you to appear online to some people and offline to others.

Follow the quick start below to add contacts, invite friends, and start using Yahoo! Messenger to communicate with anyone anywhere in the world.

 

Here’s How

  1. Add contacts to your Messenger List.

  2. Invite friends to join you using Yahoo! Messenger.

  3. Send an instant message to one friend or a group of friends.

  4. Personalize your IM conversations.

  5. Show your personality to others.

  6. Personalize Yahoo! Messenger.

  7. Call a friend using the PC-to-PC feature.

  8. Call a friend using the Yahoo! Phone Out feature.

  9. Get a number for your computer so that friends can call you.

  10. Protect your privacy.

 

What’s Next

Yahoo! Messenger provides a variety of ways to communicate with your friends, family, and colleagues in real time. Add them as contacts to your Messenger List and start using Yahoo! Messenger’s many features.

 
 
 

Words to Know

  • Audible: an animated character inserted in an instant message that says something out loud to your contact after you send your message, such as "Welcome" or "Dude!"
  • Avatar: a character that you can use when interacting with friends online. By changing hairstyles, clothes, accessories, and backgrounds, you can create your own unique persona.
  • Contact: a person with whom you interact; someone to whom you might want to send an email or instant message.
  • Display image: a picture or Avatar that represents you in some way and that you share with your contacts during IM conversations.
  • Emoticon: a small character that shows someone how you feel during an IM conversation, such as happy, sad, or laughing.
  • IMVironment (IMV): a themed environment that you can select when instant messaging your friends. Potentially, both you and your friends see the IMV during your conversation.
  • Instant messaging: the ability to exchange messages in real time with other people over the Internet.
  • Messenger List: a list of coworkers, friends, family, and associates who also use Messenger.
  • Skin: a selection that controls the overall look of the Yahoo! Browser or the Messenger windows.
  • Stealth setting: a setting that allows you to choose when specific contacts see you as online or offline.