Tuesday, December 12, 2006

The scoop on instant messaging

Examining the IM "gap"

Technology for instant messaging has been available to the general public for about a decade. A recent survey reveals that teenagers are much more likely to IM than adults.

According to the AP-AOL poll:



  • Almost three-fourths of adults who do use instant messages still communicate with e-mail more often. Almost three-fourths of teens send instant messages more than e-mail.

  • More than half of the teens who use instant messages send more than 25 a day, and one in five send more than 100. Three-fourths of adult users send fewer than 25 instant messages a day.

  • Teen users (30 percent) are almost twice as likely as adults (17 percent) to say they can imagine life without instant messaging.

  • When keeping up with a friend who is far away, teens are most likely to use instant messaging, while adults turn first to e-mail.

  • But that doesn't mean that all adults shun instant messaging. To learn more, click here.

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    8 comments:

    Hopalong Cassidy said...

    Though it has been decades since I was a teenager, I'm still a teenager at heart. But I guess that I must be a teenage dinosaur at heart because I still haven't used instant messaging.

    Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

    Tubby: A teenage dinosaur?? LOL
    I doubt that very much, my friend.

    I am a teenager at heart, too. I did a lot of instant messaging in the late '90s. Then I stopped messaging for years.

    Recently, I started up again - chatting occasionally with a couple of friends.

    Anonymous said...

    I say chatting with friends is like talking to them. It should be used more and more.

    Anonymous said...

    I use snooggie which is great as it is an anonymous instant messaging service
    'http://www.snooggie.com'

    Dr. Deb said...

    Amazing how the culture of technology has lead to a new culture of social connecting.

    BTW, early wishes for a Happy Holiday!

    Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

    Shi: I see we have another teenager at heart. ;-)

    Anonymous: You taught me something new today. I had never heard of Snooggie.

    Dr. Deb: I agree. It's amazing! Thank you for the holiday greetings. May the season bring you much peace and joy.

    Rose said...

    I spend more time emailing and instant messaging than talking on the phone....technology is something else. Have a great Christmas Deb.

    Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

    Rose: Email is a wonderful thing. :-) Some of my communications colleagues call me the "email queen". No one complains that I send them too much mail, but they do appreciate that I keep them up-to-date with news and issues of the day.

    One of my colleagues told me that he keeps a folder on his desktop with the filename "Deb". I felt special. LOL

    BTW, when it comes to my work in public education, I've found that parents LOVE to be kept informed by email. Take away my email and I'm lost.

    Merry Christmas, Rose!