A Brief History of Chat Services From way back in 1973, to the present day Brought to you by Sameroom.io
1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Talkomatic Protocol: Own
TERM-talk Protocol: Own
1973 Unix Talk Protocol: Talk
1983 Talker Protocol: Telnet
1984 BITNET Relay Protocol: Own
1985 IRC Protocol: IRC
1988 ICB Protocol: Own
1989 EFNet Protocol: IRC
Ytalk Protocol: Talk +
1990 UnderNet Protocol: IRC
1992 DALnet Protocol: IRC
PowWow Protocol: IRC
1994 Freenode Protocol: IRC
1995 ICQ Protocol: Own Sold to AOL (Converts to Oscar) Sold to mail.ru
Hotline Protocol: Own
IRCnet Protocol: IRC
1996 AIM Protocol: Oscar 52% US use AIM Usage decline
Microsoft Netmeeting Protocol: MSNP
1997 IBM Sametime Based on Databeam and Ubique
QuakeNet Protocol: IRC
Yahoo! Messenger Protocol: YMSG Interoperable with MSN End MSN interop
1998 Jabber Protocol: XMPP Cisco buys Jabber XCP
MSN Messenger Protocol: MSNP
Odigo Protocol: Own
QQ (by Tencent) Protocol: Own
1999 Windows Messenger Protocol: MSNP
2001 Rizon Protocol: IRC
2002 Skype Protocol: Own Sold to eBay Sold to Microsoft Protocol: MSNP
2003 Mail.ru Protocol: ICQ/Oscar
2004 Google Talk Protocol: XMPP
2005 Blackberry Messenger Protocol: Own
Campfire Protocol: Own 37signals rebrands, signups close Signups reopen
2006 GroupSwim Proto: Own
MS Office Communicator Proto: MSNP
2007 Я.Онлайн Protocol: XMPP
Unison Protocol: Own Acquired by Skype by Acquired
2008 Salesforce acquires GroupSwim, renames it Chatter
WhatsApp Protocol: XMPP w/extensions Sold to Facebook Protocol: Own
2009 Flowdock Protocol: Own Sold to Rally Software Sold to CA
GroupMe Protocol: Own
HipChat Protocol: XMPP w/extensions Sold to Atlassian
KakaoTalk Protocol: Own
Microsoft Lync Protocol: MSNP
Signal Protocol: Own
Viber Protocol: Own
2010 Facebook Messenger Protocol: Own
Hall Protocol: Own Sold to Atlassian
iMessage Protocol: Own
Line Protocol: Own
Lua Protocol: Own
MoMo Protocol: Own
WeChat (by Tencent) Protocol: Own
2011 Chatwork Protocol: Own
Quip Shifts to team chat Protocol: Own
Wire Protocol: Own
Zulip (Closed β) Protocol: Own Sold to Dropbox Relaunched as open-source
2012 Cotap Protocol: Own Renamed: Zinc
Fleep Protocol: Own
Glip Protocol: Own Sold to RingCentral
Google+ Hangouts Protocol: Own Google Hangouts Chat
Intellinote Protocol: Own Acquired by Broadsoft
Kato Protocol: Own
Laiwang by Alibaba Protocol: Own
Moxtra Protocol: Own
Pie Protocol: Own
Slack Protocol: Own
Talk.co (branchout pivot)
Telegram Protocol: MTProto
TigerText Protocol: Own
Yixin (by China Telecom) Protocol: Own
2013 Chapp Protocol: Own
ChatGrape Protocol: Own
Circuit by Unify Protocol: Own
Cisco Spark Protocol: Own
Evernote Work Chat Protocol: Own
FireChat Protocol: Own
Flock Protocol: Own
Gitter Protocol: FAYE
Jandi Protocol: Own
Mez Protocol: Own
Talko Protocol: Own
Teamchat Protocol: Own
Tribecube Protocol: Own
Vector.im Protocol: Matrix Renamed: Riot.im
2014 Discord Protocol: Own
Facebook at Work Protocol: Own
Jive Chime Protocol: Own
Mattermost Protocol: Own
Rocket.chat Protocol: Own
Ryver Protocol: XMPP
Skype for Business Protocol: MSNP
Symphony Protocol: Own
Clearchat Protocol: Own
2015 2016 2017