Table of Network Limits

Below is the information that IMified has on the maximum lengths of messages, status messages, and contact lists across all networks we support.

AIM (AOL)

Message length: 1024 characters
Contact list: 1000 users
Status message: untested

Yahoo

Message length: 1784 characters
Contact list: 1000 users. Some reports of issues adding more than 200 contacts, but appears to be a limitation of a specific Yahoo client and not the protocol
Status messages: 40 characters. Longer messages may be set, but most clients only display 40.

Live Messenger (MSN)

Message length: varies by client version. Generally around 1500
Contact list: 1000 users on a contact list, 1500 that can have a user on their list
Status messages: untested

Jabber

Message length: No maximum length in the protocol. Servers may define their own lengths and some clients may have trouble with very long messages.
Contact list: No limits defined in protocol.
Status message: no defined limits. Clients may have practical limits on the display of long messages.

Google Talk

Message Length: untested
Contact list: Unpublished, but reports show issues with seeing presence and adding new contacts at 600-700 users
Status message: untested

Twitter

Message length: 140 characters for regular messages, 160 chars for direct messages. Recipient username counts toward limit.
Contact list: Maximum of 2000 following, unlimited followers
Status message: 140 characters

Skype

Message length: no known limit
Contact list: no known limit
Status message: no known limit

SMS

Message length: 160 chars
Contact list: n/a
Status message: n/a