• by frank , May 18, 2009

For the second summer in a row, I’m spending the summer in Washington DC. Unlike last summer however, I don’t have classes and homework so I have a bunch of free time. As a result, I announced plans at the end of the spring semester to keep in close touch with my college friends during the summer. I was planning on keeping my GChat, AIM and Facebook open while cycling between all three in order to use each site’s chat function to communicate.

Then I discovered a gift from the internet gods: Digsby.

(By the way, I feel the internet gods should have names, like Greek myth did)

Anywho, about Digsby. Digsby integrates Facebook, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber into one chat function. So by using the same buddy list, I can contact people from each site as well as receive instant messages from each and have them feed into one text box. No more cycling between several sites on my browser and several buddy lists. It also has a pop-up option, so if my text box is minimized and someone messages my, it’ll pop up in the lower right hand corner of my screen (although you can set it for the corner of your choosing). The neat part about it is there is a small text box in the pop up so I can respond without ever having to bring up the whole conversation if need be.

In addition to integrating chat functions, Digsby also integrates GMail, AOL, MSN, Yahoo, POP and IMAP email accounts. Not in the way GMail does where everything goes to one site, but in the way where if I get an email from any of those sources, an alert will pop up and inform me. Using Digsby, I can then read, delete or reply to that email in either the pop up or by going to the source.

Lastly, Digsby integrates alerts for Myspace, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If someone posts a comment, link, photo, etc; Digsby alerts me. From the alert, I can read the posting as well as access the site to respond.

So, by using Digsby, I can know what my email, social networking and chat accounts are doing without ever using a web browser. That’s the functionality of 16 different tabs in my browser in one single tiny buddy list.

However, the best thing about Digsby is that it is fully customizable. If I only want certain alerts to play certain sounds, then I can. If I only want to know when someone posted on my Facebook wall but not when they post on my Myspace wall, I can have that. Overall, Digsby is the tool for those who wish to cut down on the amount of tabs open in their browser, have an easier way to chat with others, and not have to check their social networking sites constantly for new updates.