Instant messaging (IM) is an important form of synchronous electronic communications that has become extremely popular among teens and young adults. The communication offers unique advantages over email and other forms of communication but has not gained widespread support among corporate users. This study reviews instant messaging and its use and attempts to determine factors which influence i...

An investigation has been conducted into the use of Instant Messaging (IM) by older computer novices, comparing different visual metaphors in the user interface. The objective was to try to create a more usable and acceptable instant messaging solution for older adults, amongst whom instant messaging is not currently widely adopted. Two user interfaces, a traditional one and an experimental alt...

The modern workplace is inherently collaborative, and this collaboration relies on effective communication among co-workers. Instant messaging is the multi-tasking tools of choice most people chatting over IM do other things at the same time. The use of IM in workplace is less intrusive than the use of phone, more immediate than email and has added advantage due to the ability to detect presenc...

Instant Messaging (IM) is in addition to Web and Email the most popular service on the Internet. With xOperator we present a strategy and implementation which deeply integrates Instant Messaging networks with the Semantic Web. The xOperator concept is based on the idea of creating an overlay network of collaborative information agents on top of social IM networks. It can be queried using a cont...

Instant messaging software, as a convenient network communication tool, is becoming more and more popular. At the same time, it also brings risks in security of local area network (LAN). Through studying in typical instant messaging software and detected by the combination of misuse detection and protocol analysis, an architecture of detecting and blocking mechanism of instant messaging softwar...

We use Goffman’s characterization of "front" and "backstage" interaction practices to analyze how the use of instant messaging in both face-to-face and technology-mediated meetings alters the spatial, temporal, and social configurations of meetings. In an interview study of workers in two organizations, we found that workers used instant messaging during face-to-face meetings and telephone co...

Instant messaging is one of the major channels of computer mediated communication. However, humans are known to be very limited in understanding others’ emotions via textbased communication. Aiming on introducing emotion sensing technologies to instant messaging, we developed EmotionPush, a system that automatically detects the emotions of the messages end-users received on Facebook Messenger a...

This research paper presents an initial attempt to introduce and explain the emergence of new phenomenon, which we refer to as platform constellations. Functioning as highly modular systems, the platform constellations are collections of highly connected platforms which co-exist in parallel and as such allow us to study platforms not only as separate entities, but also to investigate the relati...

Instant noodles appear to have originated in Japan in the 1950s and, today, are produced in over 80 countries worldwide. In 2001, over 1 million MT of instant noodles were produced in China, about 700,000 MT in both Japan and Indonesia, 270,000 MT in South Korea, 200,000 MT in Vietnam, 80,000 MT in Thailand, 50,000 MT in Taiwan, and 40,000 MT in the Philippines. Convenience and affordability ar...

To nudge is to design choice contexts in order to improve choice outcomes. Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein emphatically endorse nudging but reject more restrictive means. In contrast, I argue that the behavioral psychology that motivates nudging also motivates what may be called jolting—i.e. the design of choice content. I defend nudging and jolting by distinguishing them from the sometimes op...