ICQ 5.1

Currently celebrating its tenth anniversary, ICQ is the oldest instant messenger in this round-up but still maintains a young, fresh feel. This is partly down to its use of cartoon imagery and silly alert sounds (Angry Japanese, anyone?) and also a result of its extensive, ever-evolving feature set. In the latest version, this combines communication tools such as sending SMS messages and conducting voice and video chats, with fun activities like challenging other users to online games or finding a ‘love match’ among your contacts. Finding someone to talk to is easy, letting you search for friends by name, age, location or keyword, while you can block unauthorised messages from pests by requiring authorisation to be added to others’ contact lists. ICQ is fast, friendly and simple to use, but has a tendency to clutter your screen with windows and may prove too frivolous for more serious socialisers.

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