You can get latest version of pidgin here. After installation configure the plugin as shown below.
Select Facebook chat, enter your username (or email-id) and resource as pidgin.
Note: Also check that the port no. is 5222 under advanced settings.
In the same way you can configure other chat services.
I use empathy for facebook chat!
I would like to share my little experience with you all.
I always used to set the status as “Busy” in empathy. But my friends used to continuously message me.
I thought my friends don’t care if I am busy! only latter I came to knew that Facebook don’t have busy status so even if I set busy status from empathy in facebook everyone saw me as online.
Are you configuring pidgin under windows or Linux versions?
I have been struggling for a year to get it working with pidgin under linux mint 12 DE.
Though the settings are perfect, it just does not work…
Am glad yours does! Perhaps my corporate firewall is the culprit! (but then all other protocols connect… and i can connect via facebook messenger in windows environment as well!)
To make it sure check with telnet ..! [ telnet ChatServiceWhichYouUse 5222 ]
It is easy to use pidgin then installing Facebook messenger, yahoo messenger….and all others. Pidgin replaces all these. Easy to manage.