IM just crazy about online chatting

Desocialite2002: hey, it's been a while
Awkward03: ...omg, r u madd @ me?
Desocialite2002: no!!!!!! LOL y?
Awkward03: cuz u sounded so mad just then
Desocialite2002: o sry gtg tho, luv ya babye!
Awkward03: aite lata

If this admittedly fabricated jumble of jargon looks familiar, you may be one of the many computer-happy Blazers addicted to Internet chatting. Instant Messaging (IM'ing) enables Internet users to engage in direct back-and-forth online banter. It?s convenient but impersonal, and it?s surprisingly addictive.

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), which boasts over 100 million users worldwide, is the most successful provider of this service. Many Blazers admit to being a part of this statistic. In an informal Silver Chips poll, 84 percent of students say they go online every day, some for upwards of six hours.

Whether it's because of the dizzying social circle of online buddies, the ease of opening up to someone when a blinking computer screen hides their reaction or simply sheer boredom, IM'ing has become a governing force in many Blazers' lives.

Buddies at your fingertips

Some Blazers insist that IM'ing has become an integral part of their daily lives. "IM'ing has definitely made my social life better because I meet new people [online]," says junior Anna Wong, known to her computer buddies as Crazieanna.

Crazieanna says she goes online for an average of five hours a day. Her parents were concerned that her extensive IM'ing was taking up time that should have been spent on homework. "A lot of times I'll be online and I just forget about my homework," Crazieanna admits. As a result, Mama and Papa Wong have restricted her AOL usage time. But Crazieanna, desperate to find a quick fix for her IM withdrawal, downloaded an online chatting service from the University of Maryland. "My parents still don't know," she giggles.

Junior Brigid McCarthy (a.k.a. Yellowlaxgrl7) says she is online every day for about six hours and feels that online chatting often takes the place of calling people on the telephone. "I always check online to see if people are online. If they are, I don't call them," Yellowlaxgrl7 says.

Let's get it on...line

Flirting and fighting-the yin and yang of high school socializing-would be very different if the involved parties could neither hear nor see each other. Dedicated IM'ers, however, claim that although expressiveness is stunted online, it's actually much easier to flirt or fight while hunched over a computer screen.

Yellowlaxgrl7, leaning against a wall in Blair Blvd during 5A, clams up and blushes when asked what topic is easiest to discuss online. "SEX!" her friends shout raucously. She laughs and nods in agreement.

Junior Charlotte Littlehales says that the discomfort of sexual conversation or flirting is eliminated by the impersonality of IM'ing. "There's no awkwardness online because there are no awkward silences, you're not looking at someone and you don't have to stumble over words," she says.

As for online fights, says Yellowlaxgrl7, "You can make sure what you've written is what you wanted to say before you send it and you don't have to see the person's reaction."

Crazieanna, however, says online disagreements foster nothing but confusion. "The other person could be totally calm and I would never know. There are a lot of conflicts that are blown out of proportion."

?Just something to do"

Mainly, Blazers agree that they go online for one reason: there's nothing better to do. Crazieanna says that often when she has friends over, the most appealing social activity is to get online.

Yellowlaxgrl7 concurs, saying IM'ing is often the most stimulating interactive pastime available. "You feel like you're doing more than you would be if you were watching a movie or watching TV," she explains.

Junior Sebastian Galeano-more popularly known as Toast03-disagrees. Says Toast03, social skills start to erode when teens spend hour after hour at the computer screen. "It desocializes people because they get lazy about their friendships. IM'ing is impersonal-I'd rather call," he says.

Jane Jacobs, a D.C.-based psychologist, feels that IM'ing can be a valid form of teenage socialization. "If [teens] also have personal contact and their socializing is not exclusively IM, it's not necessarily a desocializer," says Jacobs.

Whether IM'ing is a harmless pastime or a monumental waste, an aid or an obstacle to socialization, one thing is certain: Blazers' fingers will be flying tonight. TTYL!