September 2004

IM, I Said

Instant messaging is entrenched at the office, so live with it.

By Simson Garfinkel

If you aren't using instant messaging, it's time to start. n IM, as it is universally known, is a very different beast than other forms of electronic communications. IM is immediate, like a phone call, but it's also text, like e-mail. Also like e-mail, IM is amenable to multitasking. Unlike a telephone call, though, IM lets you politely interleave messages with other work, typing a few lines to a friend and then writing another paragraph on that annual report. You can even carry out multiple IM conversations at the same time, each in its own window. IM is a mixed blessing, but it's a tool that you're better off harnessing than ignoring.

People who don't use IM tend to dismiss it as the territory of gabby teenage girls. But grownups are flocking to this medium, too. A study this February by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 21 percent of IM users use it at work. This is not surprising: IM is dramatically more effective than e-mail for short, time-sensitive messages.

To use IM, you'll need an account with one of the IM providers -- America Online is the most popular, followed by Yahoo! and MSN -- and a piece of client software. AOL will try to get you to download its AIM software, but resist the temptation. The AOL program displays not only stock and news tickers but also advertisements -- including occasional 15- or 30-second video segments, complete with sound that comes unbidden from your computer's speakers. Ick! You're better off with iChat on the Macintosh or the open-source Gaim -- the GNU IM software for Windows and Linux machines. Businesses that care about the security of their messages can either set up their own IM servers or configure their IM users' software to use encryption.

Once you let IM into your life, you'll wonder how you did without it. I use IM to plan dinner with my wife, answer questions from students, and give my seven-year-old daughter a reason to learn how to type. It's great for messages that matter now but will be obsolete by the end of the day -- or even after a few hours. I frequently IM my editor to check the status of my various projects; it's the most effective way I know to get a quick answer out of a busy person.

Last spring, I found instant messaging particularly helpful in a class I was teaching. My students could check to see if I was online and, if so, just pop me a question. Some students would send me e-mail instead, but the perpetual clutter in my in-box meant that those students typically had to wait hours or even a day before they got an answer. By then, of course, the students had usually answered their questions through other channels -- typically by IMing their friends.