Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Summary
Internet Communication Types
The Internet has fostered many means of communication, and it is important to choose the cor-
rect medium for a situation.
Email
is like postal mail for computers; it is not instantly delivered,
using a
store-and-forward
system that employs
mail servers
to move the mail from place to place
and a
mail client
to pick up one's mail.
Some email accounts are web-based, also called
HTTP email accounts
. Most people use them via
web interfaces. There are also
Post Office Protocol
(POP)
and
Internet Mail Access Protocol
(IMAP)
accounts, which are both designed for use with mail clients. POP and IMAP proto-
cols are only for receiving email; they are both paired with the
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP)
for sending mail.
Instant messaging (IM)
consists of instant text messages sent over the Internet. When instant
messages are sent over phone systems, it is called
texting
or
Short Message Service (SMS)
. IM is
a
push technology
, whereas email is a
pull technology
.
Chat rooms
are like group instant messaging. You signal your willingness to participate by enter-
ing a chat room, such as a
channel
in an
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) server
.
Social networking
is an umbrella term for sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and
Google+. Users can post their own text and pictures and express their opinions.
Tags
(hashtags)
are used to identify topics. Some common social networks are
Instagram
,
Vine
,
Reddit
,
YouTube
,
Facebook
, and
Twitter
.
A
blog
is a web page where an individual or group publishes
posts,
which may contain news,
opinions, photos, and essays. Blogs can be either personal or commercial. A
blog platform
is a service that enables people to create their own blogs and hosts the blogs on its server.
Microblogging
allows users to post brief text commentary, photos, and audio clips. Twitter is the
best-known microblogging site.
A
wiki
is a collaboratively managed database of information. Wikipedia is the largest and most
popular wiki.
Newsgroups
are no longer very popular, but used to be extremely so; they are
public message forums exchanged through a service called
Usenet
. To read in newsgroups, you
use
newsreader
software. A
forum
is a web-based public discussion area.
Voice over IP (VoIP)
is a technology for making voice calls over the Internet. These calls can also
include video, through services such as
Skype
and
FaceTime
, or an IM client that includes video
chat capabilities.
Videoconferencing
is a multi-user version of video chat.
Communicating Appropriately
Because there are so many means of online communication, the appropriate tone and language
need to be chosen for each. More formality is typically expected in business communication than
in social networking. Poorly written communications send out the wrong message and can be
misinterpreted, leading to conflict. Face-to-face communications and phone calls are preferable to
online exchanges in some circumstances because non-verbal communications methods, including
gestures and tone of voice, can be used to ensure the message is correctly conveyed.
Using and Managing Email
Email is sent and received through an email client or a web interface. Microsoft Outlook is one
of the most popular email clients. When you set up a new email account, make sure you choose a
strong password
, which is a password that is not easy for someone to guess.
