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December 11, 2006

Teens and IM

From Gary's ResourceShelf, we get a link to this AP survey:

New AP-AOL Instant Messaging Trends Survey Finds Majority of Teens Send More Instant Messages Than Emails
"More Than Half of Adults Surveyed Log on to Instant Messaging Every Day"

DULLES, Va., December 07, 2006 - According to a new AP-AOL Instant Messaging Trends Survey, nearly three in four (72 percent) teens who use instant messaging (IM) say they send more IMs than emails, as do one in four (26 percent) adults. The survey, which examined instant messaging trends and usage habits among 1,513 IM users, further revealed that more than half of adults polled (54 percent) log on to send instant messages every day.

The survey also found that teens like to use instant messaging to share photos (56 percent), as well as share music and video files (33 percent). Meanwhile, adults are more likely than teens to engage in audio chat (19 percent vs. 15 percent) and video instant messaging (17 percent vs. 11 percent) with friends.

Instant messaging is a part of everyday life, especially among teens, who use IM to chat with friends, share experiences and stay in touch with family, said Marcien Jenckes, Vice President & General Manager, AIM & Social Networking, AOL. “This survey found that people are using instant messaging to share photos, listen to online radio and get more done each day. It's clear that IM is helping people better manage their lives and their relationships.

Top-line survey findings among users of instant messaging include:

* Nearly one-third (30 percent) of teens say they can't imagine living without instant messaging. Teen girls are more likely than teen boys to feel this way (36 percent vs. 23 percent). Northeast teens (43 percent) are more likely than their cross-country counterparts to be just as attached to IM. Nearly one in five (17 percent) adults say they couldn't live without instant messaging.

* Multi-tasking while online is very popular, as IM users tend to engage in multiple online activities while sending instant messages. Checking email is the most popular activity among eight in ten adult and teen IM users. After email, adult IM users most often conduct online searches (53 percent), while teens say they like to research homework assignments online (63 percent).

* More than half (53 percent) of teen IM users have used instant messaging to get help with their homework. However, less than one in ten (9 percent) have communicated via IM with a teacher or tutor.

* Teens and adults under age 30 are most likely to log on to instant messaging at least several times a day (44 percent) as compared to all other age groups. Meanwhile, 40 percent of young adult IM users (ages 19-29) send 26 or more instant messages each day, significantly more than older adults.

* More than half of adult male IM users (51 percent) send instant messages to people they've never met in person, compared with 35 percent of females. Further, 56 percent of single adult IM users do the same, compared with just one-third of married adults. Thirty-nine percent of teens have sent an IM to someone they've never met in person.

* Single adults are more likely to log on to instant messaging at least once a day (64 percent) compared to married adults (49 percent).

* One in four (27 percent) adult IM users say they send instant messages at work. Among at-work IM users, 59 percent send at least six or more IMs each day. More than one in four (41 percent) say that instant messaging makes them more productive in the workplace."

More grist for the library mill. I recall seeing a 1956/57 article in the Wilson Library Bulletin advising libraries not to adopt telephone reference. From my travels this year, we seem to be split on piloting IM reference and resisting it. This seems to be a watershed issue in libraries and our relationship with our users.

Several folks have informed me that their library IM trial yielded poor results. I asked how they marketed and promoted the service. Asa rule, they hadn't done very much promotion at all. Some feared egtting too many questions (an odd irony). I know of one library that got amazing results just by getting every staff member to give the special group IM address on a bookmark to every teen who arrived in the library. The word of mouth marketing this generated worked very well. Now that the average IM user is 32, this kind of promotion could be done very effectively by circulation and information commons desks.

Stephen

Posted by stephen at December 11, 2006 9:36 AM