What’s Jabber?

It’s an open instant messaging protocol.

Huh?

You don’t need to know.

So I Care Because…?

Kids and Teens prefer IM to email. IM is interesting in that it’s more casual than email, you know whether or not the person is there by the away message so you can get an immediate response. It’s Hi, can you… instead of Hello, I’m ….

So what is it really?

Instant messaging with MSN,
ICQ, and AOL IM are fun but you can only talk to other people with accounts with them. It’s like only being able to email people on the same server. There’s no reason for it except self-interest of the services.

Jabber, on the other hand, is like real email, you have a username like an email address (you@jabberserver.com) and any other person using jabber, no matter what the server, can talk with you. The software for running a jabber server is open-source so you can set up your own or there are plenty of open servers that will let you register for free. Just install a client and try to login, the server will automatically create a new account for you. I’m using Adium on my Mac and Gaim on my PC because they support both Jabber and AIM accounts (as well as MSN and ICQ). My webhost supports Jabber on all hosted domains, contact me and I’ll set you up with one.

Why would I use Jabber when I would still have to have an AIM (MSN,ICQ) account?

Because it’s a wider channel of communication between you and your users. Jabber users are relatively few right now but it’s only a matter of time before teenagers get as sick of the restrictions of proprietary systems as scholars have. If you’re already using software to manage multiple IM accounts, it’s just one more to add. A Jabber server would be a useful service to the community that would only cost the server hardware and the installation time while getting your library’s name in front of them every time they used it.