Week 16 - Instant messaging

I have never really seen a bad side to instant messaging (other than that it is annoying when I'm trying to work on something), but I do know some think that one of the cons of instant messaging is that it makes people fear face-to-face interaction. I always thought fear of a face-to-face interaction was normal, at least with people whom one does not know or is an authority. I don't fear face-to-face interaction with my friends and family but I do with people when I'm interviewing for a job or internship or to get a news story.

I am in Communication and Interviewing class this semester and we have definitely had our fair share of interview experiences. If fact, tomorrow I have to meet with the manager of Drug Plastics to interview him and write a request for proposal. I am nervous about it because he is an accomplished businessman so I don't want to seem uneducated or too nervous and also I am nervous about what I am going to say. I would feel more comfortable talking to him on the phone--or even instant messaging--because then I could pace around the room to relieve nervousness and not have to worry about ackward situations. I wonder if I would still have these nerves if I hadn't grown up with instant messaging and telephone communicating. Probably not as much.

When I Googled "pros and cons of instant messaging" almost every search result came up with the pros and cons of using instant messaging in businesses and corporations. And since we all are or are going to be working in businesses and corporations, I thought I'd blog about it and gather some advice given by some sites listed. This article, which defines instant messaging as once a primarily secret language used by teenagers, says that IMing in the work place can save time. And this article says that IMing is an advantage over emailing because you don't have to wait for responses. That article also mentions that instant messaging can be saved so they serve as a great reference for a conversation--perfect if someone is trying to put words in your mouth!

What seems impersonal to some is defined as personal to this website where they said "it provides more of a “personal” link than e-mail, while being a bit less intrusive than the telephone." I think that's an interesting way to look at instant messaging. The telephone is intrusive because when talking on the phone, a person has to stop everything s/he is doing and focus on the phone call. When instant messaging, a person can be working on a task, maybe talking to someone else, and responding to the instant messager all at the same time. That might be a little overwhelming, though, too.

I think some of these ideas helped me realize when and where instant messaging has its place in the business world. I know not to talk to friends or family and only to colleagues. I also think it's important to only talk to colleagues when it's essential and a face-to-face conversation is too much of a burden on the workload or impossible.