Task 13

I tried the IM thing about a week ago. I signed up for AIM and used Catherine as my guinea pig since Emily was on vacation. I also sent Emily a message via the meebo widget. I can see that IM would be convenient if you needed to talk with someone in real time. However, I much prefer face-to-face communication. I'm not even a fan of talking on the phone, because I can't see the other person's expressions and have a hard time telling when they are finished speaking or are about to speak; I interrupt frequently by accident without those cues. Another nice thing about email is that you can leave a message knowing that eventually the person will get it. With this IM thing, they have to be ready to chat too. I don't like trying to catch people at just the right moment. I somehow doubt that I'll take up IM much.