There are more and more people using online chat these days. It can provide a great way to socialize and has advantages over other methods. It can be more private than having a spoken conversation for one thing. It can be cheaper than using the telephone or meeting someone in a public place. It can be more convenient that meeting up with someone. It can have sound and pictures and so can almost be as good as meeting the person. It is great as a way of talking to a person who is a distance away.
Privacy
If you are using a messaging service, then this will be more private that speaking on a telephone. It therefore can be good if you want to communicate in a public place or at work and do not want others to overhear. It can also be good if you do not want to disturb others by making a noise.
Cost
The costs of meeting someone face to face can be higher than chatting online. Even if you do not have to pay to travel to get to them, you may also meet in a coffee shop or wine bar and will need to buy drinks. Even if you meet at your own home, you may still need to provide food and drink which will cost more than online chat.
Convenience
It may be easier to chat online than to meet someone in person. If you have a busy schedule you may not have time to go out and see them. You may have a family that you need to stay close to and so not be able to leave the house. If you are doing other things, you can still use online chat, whereas if you were on the telephone, you would have to stop and give all of your attention to that.
Sound and Pictures
Some online chat systems have sound and pictures. These can be great because if you cannot be close to the person you can still see and hear them. It can make you feel a lot closer to them. It can be good for business calls as well when it is easier to see the person so you can show drawings or diagrams.
Distance Communication
Online chat can be great for communication between people who live far away from each other. It can be a great way to keep them in touch with each other and if they use pictures and sound, it can feel as if they are close by as well.
So online chat has many advantages over telephoning and meeting people in that it is cheaper, more convenient, has sound and pictures and can bring distant people together. It can be better than email because it is almost instantaneous and therefore much more like having a real conversation, even if you are using a messaging service. It is something that is likely to take over from the telephone although does not replace face to face contact for many people.