 | |  | | By Christine Pilkington | |  | | I see my good friend Jennifer every five weeks or so - sometimes less. Between our busy careers and personal obligations, we can barely make the time for regular socializing. Despite our infrequent visits, we seem to keep up-to-date, although not through traditional methods.We communicate mostly through instant messaging (IM). | | | We are all trying to save time these days, and while IM does not replace human interaction, it does offer an ongoing opportunity to stay connected to family and friends for a few short moments daily. According to a Pew |
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| | Internet & American Life Project study released in December 2005, women are more likely than men to feel satisfied with the role e-mail plays in their lives, especially when it comes to nurturing their relationships; whereas there was virtually no gender preference for sending instant messages. | | | E-mail has provided us with a way to communicate over distance and allows us to stay in touch regularly. But instant messaging takes this concept a step further by creating an atmosphere of instantaneous conversation that is both warm and yes, even engaging. Jo, a creative director, keeps in touch with her nephew through chat. "[We] are able to spend a little more quality time just the two of us, which we never were able to do before." | |
| | After canvassing a few IM devotees, I've realized that chat has all the appeal of e-mail - and more. While e-mail continues to serve its purpose, my fondness for IM is growing as I realize the benefits of this real-time medium. If you have never experienced instant messaging before, perhaps the following reasons will help you take the plunge. | | | Save time | | | The Pew study reports that both men and women are drawn to the efficiency of e-mail and its time saving abilities. But consider all of the times you picked up the phone because e-mail was taking too long. The pace of an IM conversation is vastly faster than most e-mail threads and only marginally slower than regular conversations. | | | "I use MSN [Messenger] a lot because it enables me to get answers from people quickly - be it personal or professional," says Jennifer, who recently gave |
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| | away a hockey ticket to a person who sent her the first instant message. | | | Chatting has replaced my two-hour telephone jam sessions. With its ease and informality, instant messaging can be used for daily five-minute exchanges about the weather or longer conversations about love and life. | |
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