IM Support for Informal Synchronous E-Collaboration

Instant messaging (IM) is a synchronous communication medium that can be used to maintain a list of “friends.” These friends can be contacted whilst online and running the software, by text messages or initiating a chat, audio or video conferencing session. Figure 1 shows a screenshot of Microsoft’s MSN Messenger. Three persons are online and can be contacted by right-clicking their name and choosing what kind of interaction (e.g., send message or file) that is to be initiated. It has been argued that IM enables more informal interaction compared with common synchronous media, such as chat and videoconferencing since meetings do not need to be scheduled (e.g., Cameron & Webster, 2005; Contreras-Castillo et al., 2004). Instead, users can spontaneously e-collaborate synchronously with others when they are online. There has been a “mass adoption” of IM around the world. The popularity of IM may be explained by the fact that it has been adopted in various settings: • Managers have begun to recognize IM systems’ potential to support informal interaction. This has led to corporations installing IM software on employees’ workstations (Cameron & Webster, 2005). In 2004, 53 million American adults exchanged instants messages and 24% of them used IM more often than e-mail (Shiu & Lenhart, 2004). • Students at European and American universities commonly use IM (Beuschel et al., 2003). For example, 63% of the students at Jönköping University use an IM system (Andersson & Azadi, 2004). Out of these, 90% use it at least weekly and 52% have been using it for more than three years. • Adolescents commonly use IM to interact socially with friends (Boneva et al., 2006). As they become older, it is probable that they will bring IM to other settings, such as work and education.