Instant Messaging Delivers Speed - the Ability to Communicate Right Now, with Questions Asked and Answered in Real Time

Instant Messaging Delivers Speed—the Ability to Communicate Right Now, with Questions Asked and Answered in Real Time

Although e-mail is a powerful communications tool that enables the fast and inexpensive global transmission of text and other forms of data, it simply isn’t speedy enough for fans of instant messaging. IM appeals to users looking for a faster, more conversational way of communicating. That’s appropriate, given that IM facilitates the ongoing exchange of short sentences, or ‘‘chat.’’ ^[12]

^[12]Excerpted from Nancy Flynn and Randolph Kahn, Esq., E-Mail Rules, New York, AMACOM, 2003.