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Web chat

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Web chat sites are websites that allow their users to communicate in real time using easily accessible web interfaces. They are a type of internet Chat room distinguished by their simplicity and accessibility to users who do not wish to take the time to install and learn to use specialized chat software. Unlike other user-oriented web sites, such as discussion forums and social networking sites, web chat sites typically do not require registration. This trait allows them to offer users instantaneous access, but also generates an extremely high level of competition between chat sites, as it allows users to switch between them with ease. There are hundreds of chat sites, and some of the more popular ones, such as Chat Avenue and the Kewlchat Network will actually censor the names of other chat sites, preventing users from referring each other to competing chats.

History and Technology

Individual chat sites wax and wane in popularity pretty quickly, but the history of web chat is characterized more broadly by trends in underlying web technologies.

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