How can my friend and I chat online for free?

[sunnys best friend]

Something like instant messaging...she is with BT and I'm with Virgin Media. We email constantly but sometimes there's gaps and it's not fast enough. I've got an iPhone but she hasn't so we can't iMessage - is there something like that for free online? (UK) oh and private if possible!

[Ryan]

I don't know about the UK in particular, but Skype is a great tool.

[blackgrumpycat]

You can message each other in Facebook if you both have accounts. Instead of writing on each other's walls, click on 'message' and a little box pops up near the bottom of the screen. You can then chat away with only yourselves seeing it.

[Kathryn]

There is yahoo messenger. There is facebook. There's viber which is a free app for messaging and phone calls regardless of who you have as your provider and where they are.

[Fred]

Skye, MSN/Live messenger.