I'll Take Instant...Messaging That Is

Sheila Newsom
DTC 375
Dr. Jason Farman
Word count: 757

Researcher’s at Microsoft, one of the leaders in the technology field, proclaim that, “[i]nstant messaging (IM) has grown rapidly to involve millions of users spanning a variety of platforms.” (Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz). They further say, “[t]he benefits of [IM] are numerous, including the ability to know when personal contacts are available, nearly instantaneous communication, and the ability to carry on several informal conversations at once.” (Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz). Given my busy lifestyle IM allows the benefits of an email with the immediacy of a phone call all out of the comfort of a laptop.

IM is a combination of two forms of communication: email, and telephone. The aspects of an email contain no on the spot reaction, versus the aspects of a phone call where the response is immediate. Instant messaging is distinctive in that, at any given time one could feasibly hold an IM conversation with a classmate, a parent, a college/boss, and a friend living in Japan simultaneously. This medium allows for an office to hold its scheduled meeting even on a snow day. If a company has offices in different states they can have weekly meetings without paying for travel expenses. File sharing on instant messaging is similar to attaching a file in an email in that the file goes to the recipient. With instant messaging you have the option of saving files in a file sharing folder that the participants in the instant message have access to. Except that after composing and sending an email, there is a waiting period. Your message goes into cyberspace and uses principles similar to when a text is sent. The receiver has a choice; respond now, or wait until a more convenient time. In this age of immediacy, one might have several instant messages going at once, all while checking their personal email, reading a blog posting, and playing Word Path on Facebook. It is this instant response that makes IM individual and with IM the thought is that there is no waiting phase.

One might argue that instant messaging is an extension of the chat room, and the same may continue the argument that both are filled with the face of anonymity and veiled with deceit. For current communication techniques the IM is specific to those you invite or who have invited you. The façade of anonymity behind IM may seem appealing to some, while others view IM as a transparent form of contact. Given that much of our face to face communication is non-verbal, IM does lose some aspects of clarity. IM can have real world social implications that crate ‘real’ meaning, humor, and distinction within cyberspace. Even emotional reactions can be felt through IM in the form of acronyms, like LOL, ROTFL, and LMAO. Furthermore thoughts can be expressed once through IM and they do no have to be further explained, since IM is in readable form and can be reread. Ultimately there is no need to ask a question multiple times as could happen with a phone call, and again in the age of immediacy this appeals greatly.

Last week a fellow classmate and I were brainstorming over IM about an assignment, which led to file sharing and ultimately further collaboration on additional assignments. We were able to accomplish several tasks in one IM; out of that situation decisions were made, and projects finished. Given the same situation in a phone call, the conversation would have been longer as we would have read our assignments to each other, rather than opening the file and reading it ourselves.

The contexts in which IM is appropriate are limitless. One can IM with their mother, spouse, or boss, although the tone of the conversation will be specific to each. In particular when IM with a boss or coworker one would not use a smiley face emoticon, or acronyms, but it would be applicable when IM with a person who is in your close circle.

Social Networking site such as Facebook and Myspace have their own applications of IM, and these same principles are used by companies today with their own IM in specific workplace networks. IM has moved past the original technology of a combining a phone call and an email in that it was originally used only in social contexts, but has moved passed this thought into the corporate world who are now using this technology to facilitate work productivity in day to day operations. IM has morphed into something beyond its original idea of connection and today is seen as a time management tool.

Works cited

Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz. (n.d.) Instant Messaging: Effects of Relevance and Timing. Retreived January 24, 2009 from, Microsoft http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/cutrell/HCI2k%20Instant%20Messaging.pdf