I Don’t Like Instant Messaging, and I’m Not Alone
I’ve never been much of a gadget person, nor have I been one who likes to chat, but for goodness sakes it’s nice to hear that I’m not alone. In a recent survey of 1,013 adults and 500 teens conducted online by Knowledge Networks from Nov. 30-Dec. 4., it was discovered that teens use Instant Message or “IM” twice as much as adults.
The survey, summed up in the Yahoo News article “Poll: ‘IM-ing’ divides teens, adults” lists some of the stats from this recent poll. I include some of these stats on my blog, since it’s important to understand any target audience when we’re designing for them.
According to the AP-AOL poll:• Almost three-fourths of adults who do use instant messages still communicate with e-mail more often. Almost three-fourths of teens send instant messages more than e-mail.
• More than half of the teens who use instant messages send more than 25 a day, and one in five send more than 100. Three-fourths of adult users send fewer than 25 instant messages a day.
• Teen users (30 percent) are almost twice as likely as adults (17 percent) to say they can’t imagine life without instant messaging.
• When keeping up with a friend who is far away, teens are most likely to use instant messaging, while adults turn first to e-mail.
• About a fifth of teen IM users have used IM to ask for or accept a date. Almost that many, 16 percent, have used it to break up with someone.
I think all of us know people that always have their instant message window up whenever they’re on the computer. Are you one of them?