Instant Messaging... Yay or Nay?

[dcentity2000]

Fully teched out and am reachable via AIM, eMail, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo!



Rich::

 

[swanmom]

In our town, IMing became a huge nightmare among the pre-teen set. Fifth and sixth graders backstabbing, pretending to be another person and saying mean things, disparaging teachers, stealing each others screen names, excluding kids from discussions about events, and on and on and on. It got truly vicious and became so unbearable that the various school principals had to become involved. Our DD, who was not permitted to IM at the time, was furious that she was "the only kid in her school without IM!" Then, when this all went down, she was one of the few who managed to stay out of the line of fire. This stopped our DD from any pleading about being allowed to IM...........and I'm with KelNottAt, I'm not sure what (if anything) will finally prompt me to allow it.

 

[Reyasmom]

I talk to DH while he's at work, it's wonderful for us.

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Love IM. Hate the phone (most of the time!).

 

[georgina]

I've never used it, but all three of my kids do. I think it is better than them being on the phone and so far we have not had the kinds of problems swanmom mentioned.

 

[tiger95]

I use it at work. It is a great way to talk to people all over the country without having to be tied up on the phone.

 

[Talking Hands]

IM is the best way to send clear understandable messages especially when many of my friends are deaf and only have text pagers or cell ohine with only messaging capibility, Of course we use phones with full keyboards which makes it easier. Very few cell phones have sufficient volume for me to understand clearly although my Sidekick II can be jacked up pretty high.

 

[scarlett873]

I love IM! We use MSN Messenger in our office...it's a great way for me to be able to to tell the folks in the sales office that they have a phone call, etc. if they are on the phone. I also IM my husband throughout the day. It's nice to just be able to touch base every now and then...

I do talk to my sister and my mother almost daily via IM. It's easier than calling for us!

 

[WDWHound]

I prefer email if I am going to communicate via computer. If you want to have a conversation, call me. Why go though all the trouble of having to type everything when talking over the phone is so much easier? Also, I can continute to work while talking, but I can hardly write code if I am typing an IM.

 

[oogieboogie]

I probably would use it more if we were allowed to have it at work. As it stands, DH uses it frequently at home and I don't use it at all, however I wouldn't have any problems if I had to use it.

I communicate better when typing then talking on the phone, and I hate talking on the phone. I can follow chats better than I can following oral conversations.

I'm sure in time my kids will want it or want the latest technological advances, but for now, we're still quite safe.

 

[Beth76]

I love IM. It's the best way to contact DH at work. I can send him a message without the phone interupting a meeting. Plus, with little kids, I don't always have 5 minutes of quiet to sit on the phone for a conversation. It's much easier to just come in here and say what I need to say and then run out.

 

[dancergirl]

I love IM! Its great for me to be able to talk to a lot of friends that I probably wouldnt of kept in touch with when they left. It's easier to get on and ask one simple question than to have to call and go through the small talk to actually get your answer. It's also good for school stuff, say you are working on a paper and have a question at 12:30am, you cant call a friends house but usually half the class is still up working on it, so you can ask 4 different people at the same time to see if you get the same answer. I would be very sad without IM!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Oh, I hate talking on the phone! If I could do everything via email & IM, I'd be a happy camper!

Me too!

 

[CinderellaIam]

IMing keeps me in touch, with just a few quick lines, with friends and family, including my nieces and nephews. I have also found that the same teens who are very quiet in the presence of their adult relatives will say a lot more in im's.

As for your kids being on-line and I.M.ing, good luck trying to stop it! Ha, Ha. The good part about it, at least on aol is you can get a guardian report, which lets you know what websites your children have visited (or tried to visit) and who they were IMing with, and for how long. With two teens in the house with two working parents this tool was invaluable for keeping us sane.

 

[supercarrie]

I love it! I also have AIM/MSN forwarding so when I sign off, they forward them to my phone.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I But no way can I see me letting them talk on the phone while IMing the person they are talking with, which I hear does happen.

What do you think of Instant Messaging?

Love it--but don't love that.

Hubby is away for a year--so we are going one step further on IM and doing video with audio as well.

 

[ktbutterfly2011]

I enjoy IM. 1--our cordless phone ALWAYS dies, and thats if you can even find it charged, 2-- I can chat with several friends at the same time and 3--no LD charges!.......oh and 4--I can eat and chat

lol same here... and dont worry too much about other people talking to your kids... just block the chat option or keep close watch on them... if you are very worried... move your computer to somewhere public like the livingroom and dont let them on im unless you are in there... unless your kids are bad kids the chances of them going into chats that have strngers in them are slim to none. or else just get them Motorola IM frees... it doesnt tangle up the computer... you can have more than one going to the smae computer at the same time there is no chat. you can block and or warn people you dont know... only downside is that you have to have your internet on while using them... these go in Wal-Mart for about 30 dollars per IMfree. so if you had 2 kids you would have 60 dollars but trust me it will be well spent... you can be on the computer/internet and you're kids wont be on it all the time...

 

[Tasha+Scott]

IM is the best way to send clear understandable messages especially when many of my friends are deaf and only have text pagers or cell ohine with only messaging capibility, Of course we use phones with full keyboards which makes it easier. Very few cell phones have sufficient volume for me to understand clearly although my Sidekick II can be jacked up pretty high.

ITA! My brother is deaf so we don't talk on the phone but we do IM eachother!

 

[gradtchr]

I love it! Means I can communicate with my DF about work issues since he's in a different building. Also means I can communicate easily to other friends and family when my minutes are used up.

 

[HTH]

IMing is great! I have tons of friends on the internet that I talk to via IM, I don't know what I'd do without it! ;-; (Plus, I always talk to two Tower bellhops on it )