Uses Of MSN Instant Messenger How the display

Uses Of MSN Instant Messenger How the display name has been used James Tam

James’ Contacts: ‘Work’ Carm, about to kill a forrest Mike r restored faith in the Flames [k] why all the hate, compys? Email address at gmail Coax me, cajole me In Baton Rouge until Sunday Ed – Work Min <blank> <Blank> In an instant, my life just slipped away Chris – VTTI <blank> Jim <Blank> Lorin <Blank> Nelson Finally clicked the button Temp: -7 C Amy <blank> Cheng <blank> Kissy <blank> Maverick Colleen <Blank> <blank> Real life full name Val! Not ur typical blonde Reasonably accommodated? <Default email> James Tam

James’ Contacts: Home James @ Work IM Welcome to the house of pain! James @ Home IM I need a miracle and not someone's charity Jou Now <blank> Hard Core Fox Studying Hard [Default: email address] <Good nite sweet prince> Sarah Off to catch a squirrel Val! Not ur typical blonde James Tam

Summary Of Results: James’ Contacts Number Percentage Contacts that use 23 the display name field 92% Contacts that use 48% the display personal message field 44% James Tam

Related Work Grinter and Palen studied the use of IM by teens 1 • The preset status messages for availability were far too impersonal. • To avoid “being rude” they found that teens would personalize their display name to include information on their unavailability • E. g. , “Going quiet because mom just arrived”’ Other systems provide a mechanism for broadcasting information to all or some members of a group: IRC, The Notification Collage, Community Toolbar, Ticker. Tape. 1 Grinter, R. , E. and Palen, L. (2003) Instant Messaging in teen life. Proceedings of ACM CSCW James Tam

A Study In The Use Of Display Names For MSN IM 1 • Examined 12 IM contact lists composed of 444 individuals over a 3 week period • While default contact information is provided the information may too cryptic to associate with the person. • E. g. , 12 gorwan@yahoo. com = Gregor Mc. Ewen? • Q: Why was the display name field being used to broadcast messages to the entire list of contacts: • • Information about what you are doing: “anitsir. K – Marketing” Information about a life event: “Employed” Information about one’s state of mind: “Chasing insanity” Etc. 1 Smale, S. and Greenberg S. Broadcast Information via Display Names In Instant Messaging. Proceedings of ACM Conference Group 2005. James Tam

Study Results: Frequency Of Changes Frequency of how often display names were changed James Tam

Study Results: Number Of Changes • During the 3 week period a total of 1968 name changes were logged! • This was an average of 11 display name changes person during the 3 week study • Alternatively it meant that on average each person changed their display name 4 times each week. James Tam

Study Results: Categories Of Messages Identification • Using one’s actual name (32. 4%) • Using a variation of one’s name (10%) • Using a ‘handle’ (6. 4%) e. g. , “Hard Core Fox” Mood: 19. 4 % • “ I need a miracle and not someone’s charity…” Comments: 17. 8% • “Undocumented code should be illegal” Activities: 16. 6% • “Joe was drunk on a Tuesday…shameful. ” James Tam

Study Results: Categories Of Messages (2) Location: 12. 5% • “mike -> lab meeting” Messages: 8. 3% • “darren~thanks nat for the halo hookup” Quotes: • “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again…” Notices: • “Carm, about to kill a forrest” Fun: “Huffy – Home is where you hang your @” James Tam

Interpretation Of The Results • People change the information in their display field • 42% of test participants changed their name during the 3 study. • 25% did so several times a week (or more) • People use the display field for identification, to give information about self and to broadcast messages • Identifying yourself is crucial, the email address is often inadequate • People want to broadcast information without conversation - e. g. , “Does anyone know…” • The display field is used for asynchronous messaging • E. g. , “Congratulations Mable and Ariga!” James Tam

Interpretation Of The Results (2) • Younger users may change their display more frequently than older ones. • It was unknown why the gap existed: - “Computer generation / technical savvy” - Cultural reasons i. e. , younger users are more likely to use IM for social purposes, older ones for work • No gender differences were observed in the frequency of name changes. James Tam