Google recently introduced the option to sign in as invisible in Gmail’s integrated chat. This was a feature long available in Yahoo Messenger & Windows Live Messenger but was absent in Google Talk. However Google Chat was much better off without the invisible feature.
Imagine a scenario when 2 friends are online but both are in invisible mode so that neither of them knows that the other friend is also online. How will a chat get initiated ? In my opinion, the feature to remain invisible just takes away the charm of instant messaging. No wonder there is a drop in the number of friends appearing “online” in Yahoo or Windows Live messenger.
Gmail chat already provided an option to block a particular friend, a feature which is more than sufficient to hide from unwanted pests. As long as the block feature was available there was no need for Google to add the invisible mode feature.
Thankfully, this option to remain invisible is currently available only in Gmail’s integrated chat. Its not yet available in the standalone Google Talk program or even in the newly released Google Talk Labs Edition. Why Google wants to create so many versions of its instant messaging program with different features is a mystery in itself, but I am not discussing that here. I can only hope that Google does not introduce invisibility in the standalone Google Talk and hopefully removes it from Gmail Chat in the future !
P.S. If you want to know whether a Yahoo friend who is not appearing online is really there hiding behind the invisible mode, use Xeeber to find out whether he is actually online.
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