I personally love instant messaging, but here at the library we block it from our computers. People have to ask to get access to any messaging applications, and none of the actual applications are downloaded or allowed on any of our computers. I do feel that especially where children are involved there is a safety issue, as we can be anyone when we instant message, and children are pretty susceptible to this (or is gullible a more apt term?).
Another disadvantage to chat in my community is that so much of my adult population lacks computer knowledge. Help with basic computer skills is something of a daily job skill here in Madison.
In my personal life I use IM to beat boredom and interact with other adults and often to learn about different people from different cultures. I love getting in contact with people of different nationalities who can tell me a bit about their world, their culture and their people. it is so interesting to me that so many different cultures teach english to their students from an early age on, making it easy to communicate for those of us who are interested.
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