Education via AIM
Olivia Wiznitzer
Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: Opinion
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I come back from class, exhausted beyond belief. I throw my black leather backpack onto the floor, take off my shoes, and cradle my face in my hands as I imagine the piles of mounting homework that I have yet to face. Perhaps I lie upon my bed for a moment or two, kick up my heels and glumly stare at the ceiling. And that is when I leave all this aside and begin the second part of my education. I head for my computer, click on the little icon glowing invitingly upon my screen and am informed that I have been successfully logged on to AIM, AOL Instant Messenger. I scan my buddy list to determine who is on, and that is when the conversations begin.
AIM has been unfairly slandered as a time wasting mechanism. It exists simply to steal your soul, I have been informed. You will become addicted. Once you offer up your time, it will be eaten by that glad little yellow man who runs unmovingly in the bottom right corner of your screen. You will do no work and you will receive no benefit, only the momentary pleasure of a conversation with a friend. It will be quick and pointless, a kind of catching up, perhaps an amusing anecdote, and then you must force yourself away from this gobbling monster lest he devour all your time.
The assumption is that AIM, Gmail Chat, and Yahoo Messenger-as well as their counterparts, social networking sites such as Facebook-are all useful but addictive tools for keeping in touch with friends, but nothing meaningful actually happens during these conversations, nothing that justifies their existence. They are distractions, ways to allow yourself a study break, to inform the world of how you are feeling. Your status message is of utmost importance; with one click people can know whether to comfort or congratulate you.
But for me, Instant Messenger is so much more.
I have had some of the most meaningful conversations of my life via that medium; fascinating and thought-provoking conversations about topics that range from the death of a friend to emotions of empathy, anger, and arrogance, and above all else, the subject of people. I do not refer to petty gossip, to an indulgence of my baser nature in a furious attempt to keep track of everyone's social moves and mores-who is going out with whom and when this occurred. I am referring to people discussing themselves and what is important to them, the things that make them tick. People describe their feelings and their thoughts, wonder about whether they are normal and their problems legitimate. They come for guidance, for conversation, for an entertaining interlude to break the monotony of their otherwise boring day-but they come nonetheless. And whether I am laughing at my friend who has informed me to "GO TO SLEEP, WOMAN" or poring over the significance of a beautiful statement, it is often through AIM that I come to know people, or at least to know more about them.
AIM has been unfairly slandered as a time wasting mechanism. It exists simply to steal your soul, I have been informed. You will become addicted. Once you offer up your time, it will be eaten by that glad little yellow man who runs unmovingly in the bottom right corner of your screen. You will do no work and you will receive no benefit, only the momentary pleasure of a conversation with a friend. It will be quick and pointless, a kind of catching up, perhaps an amusing anecdote, and then you must force yourself away from this gobbling monster lest he devour all your time.
The assumption is that AIM, Gmail Chat, and Yahoo Messenger-as well as their counterparts, social networking sites such as Facebook-are all useful but addictive tools for keeping in touch with friends, but nothing meaningful actually happens during these conversations, nothing that justifies their existence. They are distractions, ways to allow yourself a study break, to inform the world of how you are feeling. Your status message is of utmost importance; with one click people can know whether to comfort or congratulate you.
But for me, Instant Messenger is so much more.
I have had some of the most meaningful conversations of my life via that medium; fascinating and thought-provoking conversations about topics that range from the death of a friend to emotions of empathy, anger, and arrogance, and above all else, the subject of people. I do not refer to petty gossip, to an indulgence of my baser nature in a furious attempt to keep track of everyone's social moves and mores-who is going out with whom and when this occurred. I am referring to people discussing themselves and what is important to them, the things that make them tick. People describe their feelings and their thoughts, wonder about whether they are normal and their problems legitimate. They come for guidance, for conversation, for an entertaining interlude to break the monotony of their otherwise boring day-but they come nonetheless. And whether I am laughing at my friend who has informed me to "GO TO SLEEP, WOMAN" or poring over the significance of a beautiful statement, it is often through AIM that I come to know people, or at least to know more about them.
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