Pew Internet Report on Instant Messaging

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Hugh Lilly <hl () orcon net nz>
Date: September 8, 2004 9:21:20 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>, Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: Fwd: Pew Internet Report on Instant Messaging

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Subject: Pew Internet Report on Instant Messaging
Date: Thu, 02 Sep 2004 9:38 am
From: "Amanda Lenhart" <alenhart () pewinternet org>
To: h.lilly () gmx net

53 Million American Adult Internet Users use Instant Messaging
24% of Them Use IM more Frequently Than Email,
IM Also Gains a Following in U.S. Workplaces

For the full report, please visit:
http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=133

Some 42% of online Americans use instant messaging, and 24% of instant
messagers say they use IM more frequently than email. This translates  
to 53
million American adults who instant message and over 12 million who IM  
more
than emailing. On a typical day, 29% of instant messengers—or roughly 15
million American adults—use IM.

The new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project also finds  
that
instant messaging is especially popular among younger adults and  
technology
enthusiasts. 62% of Gen Y Americans (those ages 18-27) report using IM.
Within the instant messaging Gen Y age group, 46% report using IM more
frequently than email.

“It comes as no surprise that instant messaging is especially popular  
among
younger Americans because many more of their peers subscribe to IM
 programs,” said Eulynn Shiu, a research associate at the Pew Internet
Project who co-authored a report on the new findings. “Once one friend
becomes available via instant messenger, usage among peers grows
dramatically.”

IM is more than a tool for chatting. It is also a popular tool for
self-expression. Instant messengers take advantage of customizable  
features
such as profiles and icons to enhance their online presence. A third of  
IM
users (34%) have posted a profile for their IM screen name that others  
can
see, and nearly half (45%) post away messages when they are not  
available to
chat.

Twenty-one percent of IM-ing Americans instant message at the office;  
they
find it encourages interoffice cooperation and increases work  
productivity.
When asked who they contact most often during IM sessions at work, 40%  
of
at-work IM users reported instant messaging coworkers, 33% reported  
friends
and family, and 21% interact with both groups equally.

“There is no doubt that IM use will intensify,” said Amanda Lenhart,
research specialist at the Pew Internet Project and co-author of the  
report.
“Younger Americans, in particular, have incorporated IM into their  
lives in
multiple ways, using it to keep track of their friends, coordinate work
meetings, and share files. IM use at home and in the workplace will  
grow as
these creative and time-saving uses of the technology percolate through  
the
generations.”

July figures on Americans Internet use by the tracking firm comScore  
Media
Metrix show that:

# AOL Instant Message (the proprietary service to AOL subscribers) was  
used
by 37% of those who traded IMs during the month. On a typical day  
during the
month more than 5.7 million IM-ers were using this application.

# Yahoo! Messenger was used by 33% of those who traded IMs during the  
month.
This was the single most popular service used at work and the average  
user
of the application spent 423 minutes using the application during the
month – the highest total among the applications.

# AOL Instant Messenger (AIM Service) was used by 31% of those who  
traded
IMs during the month. This application had the greatest reach among  
college
students and on any given day there were nearly 6 million people using  
the
application, making it the most popular application on a typical day.

# MSN Messenger Applications were used by 25% of those who traded IMs  
during
the month.

Some other data highlights from the report:

# IM users often send instant messages to people in the same location as
they are: 24% of IM users say they have IM-ed a person who was in the  
same
location as they were – such as their home, an office, or a classroom.

# IM users are multi-taskers: 32% of IM users say they do something  
else on
their computer such as browsing the web or playing games virtually every
time they are instant messaging and another 29% are doing something else
some of the time they are IM-ing. In addition, 20% of IM users say they  
do
something else off their computer such as talk on the phone or watch
television virtually every time they are instant messaging and another  
30%
say they do other things offline at least some of the time they are  
IM-ing.

# The IM universe of most users is very modest: 66% of IM users say they
regularly IM between one and five people. Only 9% of IM users say they
regularly IM more than 10 people.

# 15% of IM users say they use a wireless device such as a phone or  
wireless
laptop to send and receive IM messages.

# 17% of IM users use different screen names to contact different  
groups of
friends or colleagues.

# 51% of IM users say they have received an unsolicited IM from someone  
they
didn’t know.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a non-profit initiative,
fully-funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts to explore the impact of the
Internet on children, families, communities, health care, schools, the  
work
place, and civic/political life. The Project is non-partisan and does  
not
advocate for any policy outcomes. For more information, please visit:
http://www.pewinternet.org.

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                          (C) 2004 Hugh Lilly
                         mail: hl () orcon net nz
                    blog: http://hugh.orcon.net.nz
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