Instant Messangers are the new way to communicate with friends and colleagues. Kids often IM their friends instead of calling them on the phone. People send photos and viedo of IM. Now new versions of IM software allow video and voice confrencing.

In another arena software such as The Sims Online and SecondLife are offering people new ways to share and communicate.

3D chat applications are a synergy of these tools to allow people to communicate and share with the interactivty of a virtual environment. The idea was probably first used in a book by William Gibson, the famed author who coined the term cyberspace. In his book "Idouru" Gibson describes an alternate world that groupies of a rock star log onto to discuss the latest happenings of the rock star. The person who runs the group has the ability to change the look and feel of the world for the members who log on, giving the world a certain ambiance.