» Instant Messenging for Conducting Business - Hero or Zero Nic n Cher: Views and news on SEM, SEO & Social Media

Instant Messenging for Conducting Business - Hero or Zero

Published in April 8th, 2008

Instant Messenging Rage Just when you think it’s all roses… I throw down a Pros & Cons list! Our latest hap involves conducting business using Instant Messenging. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly:

Pros:

Instant contact
Free service
Can work from home or long distance
Web meetings can accomplish a lot more than a phone call
Can record all correspondence effortlessly
Can have group chats
Can easily share files

Cons:

Tendencies for mis-communication
Non-personal contact (could be a pro as well, depending on who you’re dealing with lol)
Being sent snippets of conversation that have been copied and pasted into what the sender wish they’d said
Coming across nasty cases of IM Courage - “surely you wouldn’t say that to my face?!”
You may not really know who you’re dealing with, i.e. no facial expressions, hand gestures, casual conversation, etc
Similarities between Instant Messenging Behavior and Road Rage… Whereas passing someone a bit too closely on a sidewalk will not provoke an instant barrage of profanity and threats, for some reason the same cannot be said for both motorists and IM users. If they feel slighted in anyway… look out! Great segway into my last Pro: