I remember signing onto AIM--- hearing that annoying chirping just waiting... waiting for it to sign you on so you could wait for your crush to IM you. Oh yes, I was that girl. Especially in high school. Then college came along and I had my very own computer where I could leave up AIM overnight. If my computer restarted while I was asleep I would almost have a panic attack the next morning--- what if someone IM'd me and it was lost? They're going to think I am rude! I must post the following away message "UGH! If you IM'd me last night PLEASE send me exactly what you said again because my STUPID dorm's electricity booted me off......" Ah, don't you miss passive aggressive away messages?
Enter G-Chat. The next generation's AIM. Gmail- the mail client offered by Google- debuted right around the time I graduated college. I think that's why their Chat feature is so popular for people my age. In a recent chat with DMBosstone he wondered what made Gmail so popular to begin with? The no spam policy? The easy search function? I have no clue. All I know is that 5 out of every 7 recent graduates use Gchat on the job (yes, I made up that stat. But if you have the means to do the research I bet you'll find it's pretty darn close).
While we're not using sad song quotes or hilarious inside jokes as our away messages anymore, Gchat has slowly become my generation's AIM. Yahoo and MSN Messengers never took off among us. But Gchat has given us everything we need and more. So thank you, Google. And thank you Gchat. You've helped Generation Y, the Millenials, transition from our AIM filled days of teenage angst to our twentysomething days of work related hyperlinks and lunch stories.
*Note- I still use AIM every once in a while. But when I sign on my Buddy List is much less populated than in the days of college. No one signs on anymore. But at least ten people are always online when I sign into Gchat.
2 comments:
I enjoying hearing people that say they no longer use AIM- it's so college yet they are always on Gchat.
I think the secret has to be the fact that it's integrated with your e-mail. In the past AIM was standalone, but now when you are at work checking e-mail it's right there.
It's gotta be something else too because I don't see people using Facebook chat all the time.
@dmbosstone Well Gchat and Gtalk can get through most work email server restrictions so maybe that's a reason. facebook chat has too many issues- I dont think it'll really catch on. I've only used it a hand full of times.
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