Staff Edit: The AIM revolution

Instant messaging became a popular method of communication well before any of us set foot in college, making many students unable to imagine what college life would be like without it. Living on campus during the days without instant messaging may seem like a long-forgotten episode of the Flintstones, at a time when people did not have accessible the benefit of instantaneous communication.

The telephone was a revolutionary invention in the late part of the 19th century, as was email in the latter part of the 20th, and instant messaging seems to have started a whole new revolution in the way we communicate. The creation of online social networks like the Facebook and other networks result from people's growing demand for online communication.

Programs like AOL Instant Messenger have allowed students to converse much more casually than during a phone call or in person, and people can even keep track of their friends' schedules with just one click of the mouse.

It has made keeping in touch with people, and maintaining relationships with people you wouldn't normally call, easier at a whole new level, and to the benefit of everyone. But there are also some dangers. Personal relationships can often suffer, and people take the easy way out online instead of facing up to people.

Trends in instant messaging spread quickly throughout the online community, and it has become a large part of student culture around the globe. Even parents and grandparents are starting to catch on to the idea, allowing them easier communication with their young ones, but also causing people to censor explicit away messages.

Instant messaging is popular way of sending comments to people from whom you don't necessarily want a response back, as is not the case with making a phone call. All this makes IM-ing a much more casual way of communicating - and a much more impersonal way to break bad news or decline an invitation.

We should realize the enormous benefits of instant communication, as it is an incredibly useful and efficient tool, but at the same time should make sure that the depth of personal relationships and actual verbal conversations do not completely disappear.