JUNIOR EMllYANNE DUMAS LAUGHS at aconversation on AOLInstant Messenger Oct 7."AIM is veryhandy when you need to talk tosomeone:' Dumas said. "Youdon't have tolook uptheir number to call th em,youcan just 1M them instead:' 'A. BEENE time in the r AIM, MSN connect minds through keyboards, monitors As soon as the 11 p.m. curfew rolled around, most students said goodbye to their friends and headed back to their rooms. But thanks to the technology of online chatting through services such as AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger, students could talk to groups of friends at the same time without leaving the comfort of their computer chairs. Senior Chris Guin said he often took advantage of online messenger programs to talk with his friends. "I often talk to people after curfew, and occasionally before curfew, when they're too far away to reach, like across the hall," Guin said. Along with communicating after curfew or across the hall, Guin said onHne messenger programs allowed him to keep track of his friends' schedules. "Thanks to away messages, I know exactly where all my friends are at any given moment, even if I haven't spoken to them since 1996," Guin said. Junior Kyle Sullivan, who used AOL Instant Messenger a couple nights a week, said another advantage of online messenger programs was the ability to multitask while talking to friends. "It's easier to do other things while you are 1aIking," Sullivan said. "I don't sit still very well, and when you are actually speaking to somebody it's considered rather rude to get up and roll around on the floor or play really loud music while they are talking." Guin said he also used online messengers to talk to his family back horne, although it took awhile for his mom to learn the lingo. "When she was just starting out, she didn't understand the difference between an instant message and a full-blown e-mail, so all her messages started, 'Dear Chris: and ended 'Love, Mom,'" Guin said. "It didn't matter what I said to her in between, she just kept typing." While talking online was convenient, Sullivan said it did have its downsides. "You can't really get to know somebody or even just know howsomebodyreallyfeels about something from looking at words on a screen/' Sullivan said. "That kind of knowing comes from being with the person." In spite of the risks of being misunderstood, Guin said life was better with an online messenger program. "When the Internet was down, I was absolutely miserable ... completely isolated and alone ..." Guin said. "When I finally got it hooked back up, every single person bad their J away' messages up. Surprisingly, I felt much better." - MEGHAN MICHAElSON 81 - SOPHOMORES
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