Instant conversation in a thread of an online discussion forum

A discussion forum data processing system comprising:

• an instant messaging server;
• a discussion forum server;
• and,
• instant conversation integration logic coupled to the instant messaging server and discussion forum server, the instant conversation integration logic comprising program code enabled to measure a temporal proximity of postings between two users in a thread in a discussion forum provided by the discussion forum server, and in response to determining a close temporal proximity, to launch an instant messaging session through the instant messaging server between the two users and to insert entries in the instant messaging session as responses to the thread in the discussion forum.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable storage medium embodying computer usable program code for instant conversations in a thread within a discussion forum, the computer program product comprising:

• computer usable program code for providing a discussion forum and initiating a thread in the discussion forum;
• computer usable program code for measuring a temporal proximity of postings between two users in the thread;
• and,
• computer usable program code for launching an instant messaging session between the two users and inserting entries in the instant messaging session as responses to the thread in the discussion forum responsive to determining a close temporal proximity.