Multiple personalities in chat communications

Abstract

The same user is able to project different personalities while visiting different chat rooms. The personalities are tailored to the chat room being visited. Different personalization items (e.g., an icon or avatar, wallpaper, sounds, a smiley set, and text style) are provided based upon the chat room that the user is visiting. The personalization items may be customized based upon the identity of the chat room (such as a particular chat room, the type of chat room, or the content of the chat room). The personalization items may be host based and may leverage instant messaging (“IM”) personalization items. The personalization items may be user selected or user provided.

1 . A hardware computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, perform a method comprising:
 rendering a chat application user interface for a chat room involving at least a chat user and a second chat participant, the user interface being presented at a system display presented to the chat user;   selecting a personalization item based upon a pre-selected association of the personalization item with an identity of the chat room; and   rendering, based on the pre-selected association of the personalization item with the identity of the chat room, the selected personalization item.   
     
     
         2 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the method further comprises:
 rendering a second chat application user interface for a second chat room involving at least the chat user and a third chat participant, the second chat application user interface being presented at a system display presented to the chat user; 
 selecting a different personalization item based upon an identity of the second chat room; and 
 rendering the selected different personalization item. 
 
     
     
         3 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the selecting the personalization item further comprises selecting the personalization item based upon a pre-selected association of the personalization item with both the identity of the chat room and an identity of the chat user. 
     
     
         4 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the identity of the chat room comprises an identity of a category of chat room. 
     
     
         5 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the identity of the chat room comprises an identity of a particular chat room. 
     
     
         6 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the identity of the chat room comprises an identification of subject matter of the chat room. 
     
     
         7 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the identity of the chat room comprises an identification of content of the chat room. 
     
     
         8 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the identity of the chat room comprises an identification of the types of participants in the chat room. 
     
     
         9 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the identity of the chat room comprises an identification of a chat room name. 
     
     
         10 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the identity of the chat room comprises an analysis of chat room communications. 
     
     
         11 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the identity of the chat room comprises an identification of attributes of chat room participants. 
     
     
         12 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises a graphic. 
     
     
         13 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises a sound. 
     
     
         14 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises a wallpaper capable of being rendered on the chat application user interface. 
     
     
         15 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises an avatar capable of being animated. 
     
     
         16 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises an emoticon. 
     
     
         17 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises text attributes. 
     
     
         18 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises a graphic that is capable of being animated. 
     
     
         19 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises perceivable attributes including at least one of color, dimension, and type. 
     
     
         20 . The hardware computer-readable storage medium of  claim 1  wherein the personalization item comprises an accessory, and wherein the accessory includes at least one of clothing or an object displayed in association with another personalization item.