Google Blogoscoped reports that a pending version of the Google Talk messaging system supports user-customizable "avatars." These are simply small, static graphics that I would have called "icons" in the 1990s. The way I see it, a real avatar is a user-controlled digital agent, not a mere thumbnail image--but the wide adoption of personalized graphics by most messaging systems, even static graphics, is a step towards more full-fledged avatars. Those IM systems that don't yet allow users to create their own visual representations are adding that functionality, and next-gen IM systems (such as IMVU) are now in use that use 3D avatars exclusively.

In January, 2006, Google Talk adopted the core protocol behind the Jabber instant-messaging system. Also that month, Linden Lab (maker of Second Life) revealed that its virtual world avatars would be using a Jabber-based messaging system "pretty soon." Google... avatars... Jabber... Second Life... avatars... Jabber... I hope you see where this is going.