Instant messaging, the ability to converse online with one or
more individuals in real time via email, has been around for about
10 years. According to a Pew Report, 53 million Americans use
IM and 24 percent use it more than traditional email. It has become
especially popular among college students. A study conducted by
students in Associate Professor Susan Blum's linguistic anthropology
class found that 97 percent of Notre Dame students use IM and
63 percent use it five times or more a day. After face-to-face
conversation, IM is the most popular communication method among
Notre Dame students, ahead of phone conversations, letters and
email.
One explanation for IM's popularity, Blum says, is that it allows
a person to have a large number of interactions in a short period
of time. Also, IM conversations can be conducted while doing other
things. In the Notre Dame survey, 91 percent of the respondents
say they "multitask" while IMing.
"While academics might complain of drowning in email, our students
are reveling in a world filled with quick exchanges that delight
them. One study shows that depressive symptoms diminish when students
have increased IM and e-mail interaction," Blum wrote in a recent
issue of Anthropology News. The text of the report by
Blum's students can be found at www.nd.edu/~sblum/InstantMessaging.pdf.
(July 2005)
