7 Things You Didn't Know About Gchat

You need to diversify your emoticons.

1. THERE ARE SECRET EMOTICONS.

V.v.V creates a little crab snapping its pincers.

:(:) creates a little pig.

:(|) makes a monkey that goes OOH OOH AH AH.

\m/ makes a little boom box.

:{ creates a creepy little guy tweaking his mustache. This one, especially, is going to be so handy.

+/'\ is a ringing cowbell.

[:|] makes an ADORABLE little robot.

< /3 is, obviously, a broken heart. (If you didn't already know <3 is a heart, well, get with the program.)

>.< makes a stressed-looking little wincing face.

~ @ ~ is poop.

2. You can change your contacts' profile pictures.

Say there's someone who gchats you that you HATE. (Or really love, I guess!) You can change the picture you see when they gchat you, without their knowledge.

Hover over their name in your contact list and click "Contact info." Hover over their picture, and you'll see "Change Picture" pop up.

3. You can shift your gchat over to the right side of the screen, separating it out and creating more room for folders on your left.

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Simply go to Settings, then Labs, then enable Right-Side Chat.

4. You can create third-person status updates by starting a sentence with "/me."

Let's say you want to add third-person AIM/multiplayer video game-type status updates. It's your Gchat! Simply start a sentence with /me, and Gchat will convert. Just remember to use "is," as in "/me is embarrassed by how this trick makes me sound like Jar Jar Binks."

5. You can bold, italicize, and strikethrough.

To bold text, add *asterisks* around it.

To italicize text,, add _underscores_ around it.

To strikethrough, add -dashes- around the text.

6. Every chat conversation you've ever had is archived — you can access them by clicking "More" on your left side bar, and then clicking "Chats."

o_O

7. If you don't WANT a particular conversation saved, by you or the person you're talking to, you can "Go off the record."

Just hover over "More" within the chat window to access this option.