I Hate Instant Messaging

Jeff Hester

September 7, 2004

Those who know me and my proclivity for things big, blue and round should sit down immediately. Yes, it is true. I hate instant messaging.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the utility of instant messaging as a communications medium. On the contrary, IM is the grease that lubes the proverbial wheels of this brave, new e-world we live in. Armed with a contact list full of associates, co-workers, clients, friends and family, I’m prepared to blaze through communications in a fraction of the time it used to take.

Remember telephone tag? I leave a voice message for you, so you can later leave a voice message for me? Usually moments after I’ve left the vicinity of the nearest phone, too.

Of course email was useful back in the day. Until spam rendered it virtually ineffective. Now you never really know if your message ever arrived, either because your message is canned by an overzealous spam filter (your mother warned you about using that kind of language!), or because it was lost amid the myriad of emails for illicit prescription drugs, miracle cures and get-rich schemes. Or maybe your friend long-since abandoned that email address (as so many do these days), having long lost the battle against spam and chosen to flee rather than fight?

Instant messaging held so much promise. Relatively spam-free, nearly instant gratification. I see my friend online and *ping!* they get my message. No fuss, right? Maybe…

IM worked well for a long while, but over time, it’s lost some of it’s luster. So why do I hate IM? Read the answer…