Instant Messaging Trends

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Instant Messaging Trends Practice

• NEBASE Annual Meeting West

Susan Knisely Online Services Librarian Nebraska
Library Commission
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What is Instant Messaging?

• Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time
  communication between two or more people based on
  typed text. The text is conveyed via computers
  connected over a network such as the Internet.
• -- from Wikipedia

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A Live Example!
http//webmessenger.yahoo.com
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Trends in IM Usage
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Pew Report How Americans use instant messaging
(2004)Who uses IM? How often?

• 42 of Internet usersmore than 53 million
  American adultsreported using instant
  messaging.
• 36 of IM users said they used IM every day.
• 63 said they used IM at least several times a
  week.

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Pew Internet American Life Project Tracking
Survey (2004)IM usage by age group
Based on Internet users
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AOLs Third Annual Instant Messaging Survey
(2005)IM vs. Email

• Thirty-eight percent (38) of IM users said they
  send more IMs than emails.
• Two-thirds (66) of teens and young adults (ages
  13-21) said they send more IMs than emails.

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AOLs Third Annual Instant Messaging Survey
(2005)IM at work

• 26 of employed instant messaging (IM) users said
  they use IM in the workplace.
• 77 of these at-work IM users feel that IM has
  had a positive impact on their work lives.

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AOLs Third Annual Instant Messaging Survey
(2005)How do people use IM at work?

• Communicate with colleagues 58
• Get a quick answer on a business matter 49
• Communicate with clients or customers 28
• Exchange files 25
• Send and receive information while on a
  conference call 24
• Say things they wouldnt document in email 23
• Check in with kids after school 22

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Pew Report Teens and Technology (2005)Teens IM

• 75 of online teens or about two-thirds of all
  teenagers use instant messaging.
• 29 of teens who use IM or text messaging will
  use it to communicate with their parents.
• 78 of teens who use IM said they used it to talk
  about homework, tests, or school work.
• Email is something you use
• to talk to old people.

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National School Boards Association Report
Creating Connecting (2007)What do teens talk
about?

• 59 say they talk about education-related topics,
  including college or college planning learning
  outside of school news careers or jobs
  politics, ideas, religion or morals and
  schoolwork
• 50 say they talk specifically about schoolwork

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National School Boards Association Report
Creating Connecting (2007) Social Networking
in Schools

• Recommendation
• social networking is increasingly used as a
  communications and collaboration tool of choice
  in businesses and higher education. As such, it
  would be wise for schools, whose responsibility
  it is to prepare students to transition to adult
  life with the skills they need to succeed in both
  arenas, to reckon with it.

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National School Boards Association Report
Creating Connecting (2007) Social Networking
in Schools

• Recommendation
• Its important for policymakers to see and try
  out the kinds of creative communications and
  collaboration tools that students are using so
  that their perceptions and decisions about these
  tools are based on real experiences.

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IM Trends in Libraries
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How do libraries librarians use IM?

• Librarians are using IM
• to communicate with coworkers in their own
  library
• to network and collaborate with colleagues in
  other libraries
• See Library Success A Best Practices Wiki for a
  list of Librarians who IM
• Libraries are offering IM reference service
• See Library Success A Best Practices Wiki for a
  list of libraries using IM for reference

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Reasons libraries use IM

• Instant messaging is free (minus staff time)
• Millions of our patrons use IM every day
• For some, not being available via IM is like not
  having a telephone number
• Staff can communicate in-house using IM
• IM is user-centered and builds relationships with
  library users

From Aaron Schmidts 10 points on IM in
libraries www.walkingpaper.org/212
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Chicago Tribune Article (9/13/07)

• Channick, Robert. Libraries using IMs to
  attract young clients Chicago Tribune, September
  13, 2007.
• "I think we're getting people who wouldn't be
  using the library if they didn't use this
  method.

--Bill Pardue, Virtual Services Librarian
Arlington Heights Memorial Library
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IM _at_ NLC

• Network Services
• NebraskAccess on AIM, Google, MSN, Yahoo!
• Promoted on NebraskAccess Comments form
• Used primarily in-house and with colleagues at
  other networks
• Information Services (Reference)
• AskNELibCom on AIM, Google, MSN, Yahoo!
• Promoted on Ask A Librarian page
• Meebo Me Widget

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AskNELibCom Experience

• IM reference service debuted in December 2006.
• Service has not been actively promoted. Users
  find it via Ask A Librarian links on NLC and
  Nebraska.gov websites.
• Averages 13.5 IMs per month.
• Most users are looking for state government
  information. Very few have self-identified as
  librarians.
• No inappropriate IMs some Are you real?

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Meeting Users at their Point of Need
http//nebraska.gov
http//www.nlc.state.ne.us/docs/needhelp.html
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Meeting Users at their Point of Need

• If the library is on a patrons buddy list, it
  just takes a single click to contact the library.
  This puts the library into the patrons world
  rather than requiring the patron to go to the
  librarys Web site and use an unfamiliar service
  (158-59)
• Meredith Farkas
• Social Software in Libraries

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Practice, Practice, Practice!
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Steps to get you started

• Step 1 Create a free IM account
• Step 2 Find some IM buddies and practice
• Friends or family who already IM
• Other librarians in your library or system
• NLC librarians
• Step 3 Once youre comfortable with IM, start
  brainstorming its place in your library!

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Popular Free IM Services

• AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)http//www.aim.com/
  (client)http//aimexpress.aim.com/ (web-based)
• Windows Live Messengerhttp//messenger.msn.com/Do
  wnload/ (client)http//webmessenger.msn.com/
  (web-based)
• Yahoo! Messenger http//messenger.yahoo.com/
  (client)http//webmessenger.yahoo.com/
  (web-based)
• Gmailhttp//mail.google.com (web-based)

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Buddy List

• Most IM programs let you add the screen names of
  people you IM regularly to a Buddy List.
• Your Buddy List usually shows which of your
  buddies are online and logged into the instant
  messaging program at any given time.

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Away Messages

• Use Away Messages to let people know when you
  may be temporarily unavailable to respond to IMs.
• Most services include several standard messages
  and also let you create your own.
• Examples
• Busy
• Stepped Out
• Be Right Back
• On Phone

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IM culture

• Use frequent, shorter messages
• Dont worry about typos or misspelling
• Capitalization and punctuation are optional
• Learn some of the abbreviations
• LOL laugh out loud
• BRB be right back
• AFK away from keyboard
• BTW by the way
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_slan
  g_phrases

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Compatibility Issues

• Problem IM services that dont talk to each
  other.
• Solution Create accounts on multiple IM
  services.
• Login to all accounts at once. Downside
  multiple windows.
• Use IM aggregator software to monitor multiple IM
  accounts through one interface.

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IM Aggregator Software
Lets you login to and monitor multiple IM
accounts through one client. Examples include

• Trillian http//www.ceruleanstudios.com/
• Pidgin http//www.pidgin.im
• Meebo http//www.meebo.com
• Web-based! Nothing to install!
• Works even if IM is blocked
• Used by NLC staff

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Meebo
http//www.meebo.com
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My Meebo Account
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Meebo Me Widget

• Easy-to-create chat window you can add to your
  web site.
• Visitors can see at a glance if you are available
  to chat.
• Visitors can chat with you in real time without
  logging in to an IM account.

http//www.meebome.com
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Questions?

• Susan Knisely
• sknisely_at_nlc.state.ne.us
• 800-307-2665 (in-state) / 402-471-3849
• AIM/Google nlcsusank
• MSN/Yahoo! nlcsusan

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Bibliography

• AOLs Third Annual Instant Messaging
  Surveywww.aim.com/survey/
• Creating Connecting Research and Guidelines on
  Online Social and Educational Networking,
  NSBA, July 2007www.nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340
  .pdf
• How Americans use instant messaging. Pew
  Internet American Life Project, September 1,
  2004www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/133/report_display.
  asp
• Library Success A Best Practices
  Wikiwww.libsuccess.org
• Pew Internet American Life Project Tracking
  Survey, February 2004.www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/4
  3/dataset_display.asp
• Teens and Technology. Pew Internet American
  Life Project, July 27, 2005www.pewinternet.org/PP
  F/r/162/report_display.asp