'Hey, you there?' Students log onto Instant Messengers

Does the word "buddy list" play a role in your everyday life? Do you know who SmarterChild is? How does : ) make you feel?\nIf the above characteristics have any sort of significance and meaning to you, it is quite possible you have fallen into the trap of one of the newest crazes and most frequently used forms of modern communication technology today: Instant Messenger.\n"If you are a college student and have a computer, you have it," sophomore Mia Dragan said. \nAccording to a study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life study in 2001, Dragan's assumptions prove accurate, as 13 million teenagers in the United States now use some form of Instant Messenger to contact friends and family. \n"The reason I go on Instant Messenger is basically to communicate with friends that do not go to school here, or family back at home," sophomore Brett Perellis said. "It's cheaper than a phone call, less time consuming and provides you with instant access to people, allowing me to do work and talk to them at the same time."\nThis type of concurrent multitasking of handling a dozen instant messages at a time could be compared to only talking to 1/12 of a person. Because of this, when a person is hastily typing out messages to friends and family, it is found that the personal value of the message is often dropped, and there is no guarantee to how both the sender and receiver will interpret the messages. \n"The danger of (Instant Messenger) is how easy it is to take text out of context," Kelley School of Business lecturer Frank Akaiwa said. "Emoticons (ways of expressing facial expressions through an instant message, such as :( or :o)) are a crucial text based medium, because with it, you do not know what the emotional context is."\nThe Pew Internet & American Life study found that many teens feel "less inhibited" and are more willing to express their emotions when using Instant Messenger to talk to others. Statistics from the study show 48 percent of online teens used instant messaging to improve their relationship with friends, and 37 percent admit to saying something over Instant Messenger they would not have said in person.\n"Instant messaging makes it easier for the sender to ask a more personal question, because they are not face to face with the person to see their reaction," Dragan said. "It is also easier for the receiver of the message, because they have the opportunity to respond, tell a fib or simply walk away from the computer."\nPerellis said Instant Messenger creates a "less personal" relationship between people, and although he has seen it be done before, he personally would never discuss matters such as asking someone out on a date through Instant Messenger. \n"There are some things you just have to say face to face," he said.\nNot only are people communicating instantaneously through instant messaging devices, but "away messages" are ways in which users can post a message under their user name, sending an automatic response to all who message them. These away messages can be as simple as the default setting of "I am away from my computer now," to detailed messages such as "The time is 12:13:39 p.m., and if you can guess the name of my mother's-cardiologist's-uncle's-dog's-sister's-owner's-barber's-daughter's-husband's-boss's-massage therapist by 3:03:34 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, I will write back to you when I get back from class!" \nDragan's friend, sophomore Lorenza Jara, sat at another friend's desk for over an hour one day working on the computer to ensure her friend had creative away messages. \n"Unfortunately, I spend about one hour a day looking at away messages," Jara said. "I do it because I like to see people's creativity. In fact, I get upset when people get lazy with them."\nAs some people crave chocolate and coffee, Jara is an example of those who crave Instant Messenger. \n"Today's technology is creating a connection addiction," Akaiwa said. \nThose who fall into the "addictive" category have a need for Instant Messenger, making it a necessity in stabilizing and balancing out their everyday lives.\nAccording to a survey taken on http://www.imaddict.com, Jara was proven to be "76 percent addicted to Instant Messenger." Some of the questions asked throughout the survey were: "Would you put up an away message if your house was burning down?" and "Have you checked anyone's away message since you started this survey?" Jara also admits to having issues with sleep deprivation, and while she blames most of it on herself, she blames some of it on Instant Messenger. \nThe sleep deprivation issue is only one of the negative aspects of Instant Messenger. \n"It distracts you from doing your homework," freshman Matt Schuval said. "If people instant message you and you don't want to talk to them, it gets annoying."\nSophomore Drew Sarratore agrees with Schuval; he said he often becomes annoyed at those who abuse Instant Messenger. \n"Last year when I lived in the dorms, I would sign on and people across the hall would instant message me," he said. "It's okay to talk to someone long distance or far away, but when people you have seen three seconds ago start instant messaging you, that's when you know they're abusing it."\nRegardless of the sleepless nights in which Instant Messenger addicts spend with their computers and buddy lists by their side, those who find a relentless need for the popular communication medium have developed a sort of attachment to it. \n"I can't live without it," Jara said. "It makes me happy"