TechComet

Up till today the only way to use Facebook Chat was to use the service through the site itself, similar to Google Talk. However, Google Talk also supports the Jabber (XMPP) protocol which means that virtually any instant messaging client such as, AIM, Pidgin, iChat and Pidgin, could easily integrate Google Talk. There were a few painful hacks which allowed Facebook Chat to run on IM clients, however these often led to crashes and were generally quite a problem to use.


Today Facebook announced on their blog that they will be enabling support for the Jabber (XMPP) protocol, which means that Facebook Chat can now be seamlessly integrated into all major IM clients.

The benefits of this is that there is no need to keep your browser open and pointed at facebook.com to continue chatting with your friends. Further, it is now also possible to add Facebook Chat to various IM clients that are available on the Android and iPhone.

To integrate Facebook Chat into your IM client do the following (generic settings)

1. Start your instant message program and locate the menu where you can add a new account (usually in preferences or settings).

2. Create a new account by entering the following info:

Protocol: XMPP or Jabber
Username: abhiroop.basu
Domain: chat.facebook.com
Jabber ID: abhiroop.basu@chat.facebook.com
Password:

3. Enter the following server info, as requested:

Port: 5222
Server: chat.facebook.com
Use SSL/TLS: no
Allow Plaintext Authentication: no

For further information go to the Facebook Chat Help Page.