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I enjoy IM conversations with people around the world, but I have found out that the Instant Messenger monster is a troublesome little beast. It seems that in order to IM someone, you need to know that person’s exact online schedule, plus you have to know when that person is talking to someone else and what that person’s schedule is, and does your own schedule correspond to it? In other words, it is virtually impossible to have IM conversations online without becoming an irritation to someone at some point in time. It was so much easier to talk to people when I didn’t have to crawl inside their brains to do it.

The only way for this internet device to be useful is for two people to have a standing agreement on days and times when they will get together for this type of chatting. For instance, if you are talking to your best friend/boyfriend/girlfriend/brother/sister/cousin/whomever …establish ahead of time that you both will be online at such and such a time, on such and such a day…then promptly forget about it, so the other person will have to phone you and holler at you to get online so the two of you can chat.

Perhaps this is why many people have decided that they don’t like using their messenger for conversation, while other people, and I include myself in this group, continue to persist in using the thing for its intended purpose, simply because it’s there, and it’s fun, and we like it. We are the people that other people block from their messenger lists because we are always trying to talk to them when they don’t want to talk to us. We are the ones who aren’t even aware that we are being blocked in this fashion….we just continue to send unanswered IM’s regardless. This is because we are used to being ignored.

Instant Messenger is a fabulous invention for connecting people who otherwise might not have any connection, for example…people from opposite sides of the world, can get together in real time, though perhaps thirteen hours apart, and chat as if they were in the same room. Webcams bring this illusion even more clearly into focus, as they enable the two to see each other making silly faces as they type. The addition of a microphone and headset to the mix, enables the two to cease typing altogether and just talk. You can still see the silly faces but now you don’t have to wait long for responses. This can be difficult when you already find it difficult to know what to say to the other person….only now you are speechless for real.

What gets me is when someone else has a lesser IM service, one that doesn’t have all the bells, whistles, doohickeys and what-have-you that mine has, so when I talk to that person, my IM automatically transforms itself to conform to the lesser quality system. So I lose most of my emoticons, can’t exchange pictures, or other files, and just basically get frustrated because the other person did not have the foresight to conform to me for a change. I’m kidding, of course, but it seriously is a frustration for this IM addict. I like to exchange pictures over Instant Messenger as it is much faster than by email. Does it sound as though I have dial up? Yup. I do.

Some people may wonder why I spend so much time communicating through IM when there are other options…like the telephone for example. Well the reason is simple, it took me a heck of a long time to install my messenger into my computer…If I have to struggle, fight, beg, plead, cajole, and basically embarrass myself to get it installed, I am darn well planning to use it, and use it a lot. Ignore me if you must, block me if you will, but I am going to use that Instant Messenger.

Text messages are fun as well. People seem to like receiving these messages on their phones; even if they don’t respond back, they are happy to get them. The only time they are not too happy to get these messages is when someone is merely playing games with them. I of course, would not do such a thing. I won’t text someone’s phone to find out for example, the weather where that person is, when that person is approximately three miles away. That would just be so wrong. I will, however, send flirts to someone I love so he can get a pleasant surprise on his phone. This is not an abuse of the IM system, unless this person is someone who hates flirting, in which case, he probably needs an attitude adjustment instead of a girlfriend.

All in all, Instant Messenger is a wonderful invention….providing the rest of the world cooperates with you. They won’t but go ahead and use it anyway…..because you can.