instant messenger
 

hey cd community

just wanted to ask a ? to y'all and get u'r opinions--the great ? is--what do u all think about instant messenger affecting the world of communication--pros and cons about instant messenger--

plz put u'r comments-- i know we use it a lot between buddies and friends--but like what about the business world


thanks


happy trails

-tiff

Re: instant messenger
 

Someone I know once said that instant messaging is "the most bloodless form of communication" and I agree 100%. Now with that said, I use it a lot. It's just convienient, maybe almost too much, I find myself on my computer a lot talking to people and doing other things at the same time.

Anyone else find themselves almost addicted to AIM? Maybe I need to get out of the house more... :]

Re: instant messenger
 

It's capitalization that suffers the most... ;)

Re: instant messenger
 

I never really got into the whole IM thing and I'm proud to say I am doing just fine without it. And I absolutely love how fast and smooth my computer runs. :cool: :)

Re: instant messenger
 

For me, without instant messaging, there would be no me. We have had internet service in our very rural area since 1997, however just this year we are now sporadicaly seeing cell towers being constructed. In addition, MANY of us due to the extreme ruralness can remember party lines, and know that phones are not always a secure connection due to scanners (highway, police, fire) picking up on same frequencies as phones. Without my abilities to have instant messengers over the past 7 years, I would probably not even be 25% as social as I am today. From the early days of ICQ to my current days of Trillian Pro, I see it keeping me in touch with my very high tech life.

...... the newest thing I have seen, is individuals not having enough time to search for their new homes, and making real estate purchases in their busy lives. The alternative - the family, couple, individual - chats online with the real estate agent during the day or whenever convenient for all parties, and does all business transactions etc. and setting up viewings of houses through IM's. I know I greatly look forward to this.

Re: instant messenger
 

I love my IMer (Trillian on AIM w/Microscopic skin). You can do so much more with an IM than PMs or posts on a wiki or e-mail. it's the I: instant. Like a long-distance phone call w/o $$$$$$. I'm running it on a pentium 2, and I'm doing fine. (@ the same time as a firewall, print monitor, sys monitor, and what ever else I have open)

BTW, get Trillian. It runs AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN, and Yahoo. The shareware version has more features than I need, not to mention Smilies galore! (i)(l)(Trillian)!

Re: instant messenger
 

Cons:
A message such as this is becoming more commonly viewed as "an acceptable form of communication".
*shudder*

Though there are varying degrees of "AIM speak" I draw my line very early.


We've seen this debate a thousand times... still a pet peeve of mine.

Re: instant messenger
 

I was secretly hoping that the syntax and formatting of that post was, somehow, an ironic jab at what instant messaging has done to language.

Re: instant messenger
 

Quote:

hey cd community just wanted to ask a ? to y'all and get u'r opinions--the great ? is--what do u all think about instant messenger affecting the world of communication--pros and cons about instant messenger-- plz put u'r comments-- i know we use it a lot between buddies and friends--but like what about the business world

As I do at work, mark Post #1 "Exhibit A".

Point made.

Re: instant messenger
 

IANAL. 'nuf said

Re: instant messenger
 

<confused> :confused:


In all seriousness now, I think that instant messaging has made communication so much more available to more and more people. While the "impersonal-ness" becomes a factor, we as a high-tech society have found a way to overcome that barrier with things such as "Talk", "Direct Connect", and webcams.

Also, chit-chat and work meetings are more possible because instant messaging makes it possible for people to converse without setting aside time in their schedules to talk over lunch or to discuss financial matters, for example.

Instant messaging is just like the telephone a century ago. Many people had strong feelings for or against it, but ultimately, it became just a part of our progress as humans. It is inevitable that instant messaging will also come to be viewed as a part of our progress.

Re: instant messenger
 

Pros:
1) Mass communication within minutes
2) Easier to contact
3) Less time to discuss plans and easier to get things done

Cons:
1) Addictive
2) Could lose connection on your service
3) Viruses (maybe)

Re: instant messenger
 

Viruses? I have yet to be able to Direct Connect with anyone, or send them a file. Not that trillian lacks the capability; it just doesn't work

Re: instant messenger
 

Pros:
Well, its instant.

Cons:
People now write like this:
http://foxweb.marist.edu/users/kbnty/unbelievable.php

Re: instant messenger
 

Hmm... interesting question.

I will agree that the English language has been butchered by some, er, most. However, I really think there are some pros to instant messaging. For me personally, I am entirely way more sociable than I think I ever was capable of. Instant messaging allows you to say something, sometimes even experiment with saying something, without having to worry about your facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, etc. I guess you could say, if you are someone who was terribly shy, and petrified of voicing an opinion or asking a question, instant messaging has been a wonderful thing. In addition, the fact that I can speak to every person in a group of six in a project at once in a chat room makes things very easy.

Another pro is the fact that I can type at nearly 70 - 120 wpm, depending on the situation, and yes, that is in non-abbreviated, grammatically correct English. That speed has certainly helped my schoolwork.

On the con side, I don't think we people specifically are suffering too much from IM. We were little kids without IM, and if you are like me, may not have gotten IM until junior high school. So, I'm proficient at spelling. I can speak in nearly proper english. However, people like my little brother, who on average reads one chapter book a month, watches 7 to 10 hours of television a day, and feels more comfortable on IM than in person, he will suffer.

You know someone is to dependent on IM, when instead of laughing, they say LOL. Sadly, I hear this all the time. I'm sure others do too.

So is IM good or bad? Depends on the situation. There is a balance.

~ Jill

Re: instant messenger
 

Instant messaging has led to people randomly saying L-O-L out loud when they meant to make the following noise: HAHAHAHAHA.

That is not good.

Re: instant messenger
 

well, trillian doesn't DC. and besides that fact, downloading AIM could bring a virus into your computer. Anything you download could have a virus in it. Ya never know.
and hence when i said "maybe". :-D
--d0ri

Re: instant messenger
 

It's easy, and really convient. You can talk and make plans with everyone at once instead of having to call lots of people.

On the downside, it leads to horrible grammar. In my case, that tends to come in the form of over-use of "..."...

To keep that steady stream of thought thing going.

Hmmmm...overall I'd say it's helpful, though.

Re: instant messenger
 

Oh man.. I have the same problem. I can very easily switch from proper writing to a paper.. to quick writing for IRC or IM (or semi-formal like forums). And for anyone that uses a Mac, use Adium (adiumx.com).. it's so much better than iChat.

Re: instant messenger
 

The key is, you have to connect with other Trillian users. You will find that you are not able to connect AIM - Trillian, for example - just Trillian - Trillian. I am hoping when Y! beta is released in its newest version it will hold such capabilities.

Re: instant messenger
 

I can connect just fine to plain AIM users...
:confused:

--EDIT--
For direct connect, you mean...? I see. :)

--EDIT--
And I overused elipses before I got IM... :D

Re: instant messenger
 

okay tiffany, here you go.....



pros:
I can talk to my boyfriend (how's that?)

sorry, that has absolutely nothing to do with the business world, but still, it's a good pro!!!


cons:
it's get's people to type like you just did, with the letters... invu4uraqt hehehe, sorry, had to do that!

Re: instant messenger
 

I was talking with one of my friends while walking down the hallway at school, she was telling me about how her dad deleted their AOL account without letting her know about it first. "Dad, you should have let me know so I could save my buddy list first. You just deleted my social life!"

I congratulated her for saying the absolutely most nerdy thing I have ever heard, and continued by telling her I've been to state science fair and am on the robotics team.

communication with friends when you otherwise wouldn't is good. My con would be after last summer, I got back to english class and actually wrote a handwritten paper full of punctuation, capitolization, and other gramatical errors. Ack.




...oh, and what Spammy said is always good too. ;-)

Re: instant messenger
 

I just had my first day of work on Monday in a Congressional office in DC and I was very surprised that everyone in the office uses AIM. Here we are, having to wear suits to work every day, always presenting ourselves in the most polished fashion, using AIM. Oddly enough though, it works because we use IM's to see if people can take phone calls instead of running or screaming across the office. So who knew it could come in handy in the business world.

I must say that AIM has greatly helped my typing skills which does help in the office too. Additionally, I'm not the greatest speller even though I used to be an English major, but strangely enough, I think that instant messaging has improved my spelling skills (at least the ones I lost with spell check on word). I pretty much use the same vocabulary when I message as when I speak so typing out longer words that I usually don't write out often, I force myself to go look up the spelling on dictionary.com. So if you're neurotic like me, it might actually have its benefits.

The major downside of AIM in the workplace though is people who chat instead of working. My dad manages a dozen or so engineers and he hates people who use AIM because they never use it for work. I usually try to keep my away message up while I'm in the office and my messages hidden; then I'll only retrieve the messages from my coworkers.

AIM of course can be abused, but anything good can be abused. If people just used it in the correct way, I think it could be an asset.

Re: instant messenger
 

Another major downside being that it is very insecure, and talking about delicate/private matters over it can be a risk to the company you are working for. I've heard of some companies banning all IM's, except for their internal company-only server, that they can monitor and secure as much as possible.

Re: instant messenger
 

Trillian has an encryption option, too. (sorry)

Re: instant messenger
 

thanks u'all

great to hear everyone's opinions on things

enjoy the summer


-tiff