Heartland

I was reflecting on how prevalent IM (e.g. MSN Messenger, Yahoo IM, etc and before that ICQ) used to be about 5-15 years ago, but it seems to be much less mentioned these days.

Does anyone use IM anymore, or is it pretty much obsolete?

We have Facebook now, it is almost a web-based Messenger...


IZ.

Izzy HaveMercy wrote:We have Facebook now, it is almost a web-based Messenger...


IZ.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking (especially with the built-in chat thingy)

my iChat usage has increased since I bought the Beast

my Aunt in Amerikee before ye think I've gorn kinkier

My idiot boss insists that we have Windows Messenger running all the time so people internally can contact us. *So* much easier than picking up the phone, I don't think - pain in the f**king ar$e is what it is.

I use AIM and skype a lot. I prefer them over texting and facebook, since texting's a pain in the ass and facebook is kinda overwhelming-- You log into fb to check your notifications and all of a sudden WHAM you're obligated to reply to 8 people.

EvilBastard wrote:My idiot boss insists that we have Windows Messenger running all the time so people internally can contact us. *So* much easier than picking up the phone, I don't think - pain in the f**king ar$e is what it is.

We have Sametime (semi-voluntarily) and think it's quite an alright way to stay in touch between colleagues, if you're not planning to shout something out across the room or need to contact someone in Abroadistan who's not too good at understanding English/Dutch/German/...

Other than that, I do log on to MSN less than I used to but actually never used the Facebook messenger myself. Should I? (actually I usually tend not to show I use Facebook either way, it's just kind of 'there' and amusing to browse when you really have really nothing else to do)

Obviousman wrote:Abroadistan

Nearly choked on me (foreign) pint,

I prefer picking up the phone and talking. Old-fashioned I know, but it still can't be beat.

i use msn a lot still, and facebook chat. oh, and gmail chat.

Pista wrote:

Nearly choked on me abroadistanian pint,

Or is that pushing it

mIrc pretty much daily with friends M - F.

I use it quite a bit. Its more conversational than email, more verbose than texting. I very rarely use the phone unless I absolutely have to.

In business, my teams use an internal messenger service, which is more secure than FB or Google chat.

I just vent my loquacity here on HL.

nodubmanshouts wrote:In business, my teams use an internal messenger service, which is more secure than FB or Google chat.

yeah, we use skype IM & video chat at out place, for the same reason. and to speak to clients.

So it sounds like IM has mutated into a workplace tool (we use it to talk to our sysadmins in Miami), with a lingering home-use amongst us 30/40 yr olds. But for most home-use it's been superseded by Social media networks (and their built-in chat functions) and SMS.

aye, i'd agree with that...

Makes me feel a bit nostalgic for the late 90s when IM was king and I was running Trillian to try to keep track of all the various IM accounts.

I'm just very interested in watching the changing landscape of media/communications, and was surprised to see IM disappearing with a whimper.

Family nodub still uses IM at home, but I think that's a function of the fact that we are, as a family, spread out across 3 continents, and more importantly, 3 different cultures. While I use Facebook, my wife's family doesn't (they're in Asia, so use some equivalent). Actually, I think the only peple I use IM with are family members now (outside work).

For me, the real dead do-do, is the phone. In the world of mobile internet, push notifications and multiple access points, I find that the phone is really only used for conference calls... or when somebody wants to talk about something they don't want a paper trail of.