ICQ (I Seek You) was created by two Israeli Students, and is current owned by AOL.  ICQ was the first Instant Messaging program created online.

ICQ has lots of fun features that you can use.  With ICQ you can send messages to friends who are not online so they can get the message when they do sign in.  Not many other Instant Messenger programs allow you to do this.  ICQ allows you to choose who sees you online and who sees you as offline (even though you are online).  Also with ICQ you can send mobile phones SMS messages in different languages.  There are lots of different plug-ins, skins, and custom sounds you can use with ICQ.

Lots of people still use ICQ to keep in touch with friends.  At one time this was the only instant messenger program available. Lots of people are switching over to programs that are already installed on their system.