Chat service ICQ jumps onto the social networking bandwagon

Hey, remember ICQ?

The chat network that once seemed to dominate the international market has seen much better days. The new ICQ 7 arrives almost exactly three years after ICQ 6 first hit beta, but the whole landscape has changed in that time.

What's this "social networking integration" all the kids are doing these days? ICQ tried to figure that out with ICQ 7, including support for Twitter and Facebook.

Posting to both of these networks - simultaneously, even! - is possible in ICQ 7, but interacting with the social sites in almost any other way is a pain. Liking and commenting on Facebook is tough, and the Twitter stream shows your @replies and direct messages, but not your main page.

It's as if the social networking stuff was just tacked on to follow a trend -- in a failed attempt to resuscitate a virtually washed-up chat service.

Even if your friends are still lingering on ICQ, don't punish yourself by using the ICQ app to connect with them. Just get Trillian, Meebo, Pidgin, or any other multi-protocol chat app, and enjoy ICQ along with every other major chat service.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Tags: chat, facebook, icq, icq 7, Icq7, im, SocialNetworking, twitter