Defination of Instant Messaging (IM)

IM is an Internet-based application that provides close to real-time communication between people. Rennecker and Godwin (2003)

Synchronous

IM has five unique features:
1)presence awareness
2)“popup” recipient notification
3)within-medium polychronic communication (simultaneous involvement in more than one conversation at the same time) (Bluedorn et al., 1992)
4)silent interactivity
5)ephemeral transcripts

According to Rennecker and Godwin (2003) “Theorizing the Unintended Consequences of
Instant Messaging (IM) for Worker Productivity,” Sprouts: Working Papers on
Information Environments. Systems and Organizations, (3), Available at
http://weatherhead.cwru.edu/sprouts/2003/030307.pdf

IM examples:
ICQ, MSN, QQ