The hugely popular social networking site Facebook has launched its Chat IM service. The service is currently available to selected networks such as ivy league schools and Stanford. The application is directly integrated in the browser such as Gtalk chat in Gmail.

A chat bar appears at the bottom of the page and is always present there. It gives access to the friends list, chat windows, notifications, online status etc. Chat can be performed on the same window or in a separate pop up window. The friend list all your friends along with there status such as online, idle etc. Now all the status updates gets displayed in the friends list. You also get an option to display your mini feed stories in the chat. You also have an option of going offline if you don’t want to get disturbed.

With the launch of there chat application, users will definitely get more engaged in the site. I am sure in the future we might expect a desktop client and Facebook will be a force to be reckoned with in the IM world.

via InsideFacebook