The image above was a welcome surprise when I logged on to Facebook this morning - There is now a real time chat service, like Instant messenger. At the moment the features are nice and simple (which I like), you can set your status to “Online” or “Offline” depending on how chatty you feel. You can see which of your friends are online at any time.

Thinking about this service after the initial “surprise” is this feature something Facebook users want? For me it’s a place where I can message my friends, join groups, read discussions and occasionally find some good links (SEO related of course). If I wanted to chat to friends I would phone them or use an IM service - Facebook was my getaway from the real world for me - Perhaps I liked someone enough to “add them” as a friend but to actually engage in conversation is a whole other matter.

I’m sure Facebook will add and add to this feature eventually consuming what was once a simple medium to interact into a complicated web of ads and notifications. Anyway - I’m not casting judgment yet and have setup a poll - let me know what you think?