Method 9

Instant Messaging, I find the term alone annoying. I hate the little blip sound that comes up and the people who expect me (just because I'm online) to respond as if I'm in front of them as they are yelling (virtually that is) through a keyboard. Some things should just be reserved for physical conversation, like immediacy. I have a problem with the idea that IM suggests we as librarians (really human beings) have to immediately responds to other human beings as if they are urgent when we could very well be doing something of far greater importance. I'm not a fan, but I will still use this service to conduct a semi-normal conversation with those who can't speak at the moment. Almost like a text message, I just don't know about the fact that people can see if your online and then bug you. That irritates me a little, but most services allow a person to hide this fact. So I guess the concept is okay.