Chat services and Instant Messaging (IM) online are two tools which really opened up communications online when they were introduced. They gave the internet a widespread sense of real time communication.

I’ve tried a couple of IM applications – ICQ and MSN Messenger – as well as Facebook chat which isn’t a standalone application but works along the same principles. I’ve had a brief try of SecondLife but there is enough going on in the “real world” for me to avoid the temptation of diving deep into the “virtual world”!

One of the organised NET11 group chats on ICQ was great but unfortunately I had some troubles with ICQ, not being able to view the conversation in real time, instead I had to view the conversation history which lessened my ability to participate. It was probably something I was doing wrong, but I’ll figure it out at a later time.

I have to admit I’m not a big user of IM, but if I do need to jump on, my first choice is usually MSN Messenger. It hooks up to my Hotmail email account and includes all of my contacts from there. It appears quite similiar to ICQ in the way the user interface is used during IM, as I imagine most probably do.

Facebook Chat is a great little feature built into Facebook itself so rather than requiring a separate installation, the chat happens within your own web browser. Regardless of your operating system you can chat with your friends.

As with most IM applications, the status indicator comes in very handy at times. For example, I regularly log on with my status set to show me “Offline” so I can get my work done but also see who is online in case I need to chat with them. This helps productivity but also means you can jump into an IM conversation if required. A brilliant feature!

Online chat provides the ability to chat via text, video or audio with other users however it adds new dimensions to the web. For example, the use of emoticons (little animated smiley faces, etc) can indicate various emotions. Text characters can also be used to intimate nonverbal communication in a similiar way that body language would in a face to face conversation. This paper from The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand – An analysis of nonverbal communication in an online chat group – investigates some of the nonverbal communication that occur in online chat.

It has been a while since I’ve been on an email list (modern mailing lists excluded), in fact, I only recall being on one email list when I very first began using the Internet. It was a coarse angling list based in the UK. At first, the novelty of all this information flowing into my inbox was fantastic. I could read stories and learn fishing techniques which I otherwise would not have had access to but after a while, the annoying volume of emails sitting in my inbox outweighed the benefits of their content. As you can imagine, I soon unsubscribed. Information is only of value if you have the time to consume and apply it.

As magazine, THE WEEK says, “read less, know more”.

The advantage of email lists is that each message is delivered to subscribers email addresses. Since email is commonly used as a primary communication tool on the web, it is likely that the messages will be viewed, or at least seen, relatively quickly.

In today’s web, I think discussion forums are a more appropriate tool for asynchronous communication. A forum allows users to come and and go as they please, whether they participate in the conversations or not. This has the advantage of specificity, where users can be selective about which threads to view, ensuring what they read is specific to their interests. Participants can upload media files (within the limits set by the forum administrator), in the same fashion as attachments would be used via a mailing list. The disadvantage I can see with forums is the potential to miss elements of the conversation due to being absent for a period of time, however even that can be partially overcome by simply returning to the thread at a later time.

Email lists may still have a place in an internal organisation situation, where perhaps other technologies aren’t available, and there is a need for all list members to continually be up to date with certain information. Open source software development communities might be able to benefit more from an email list than a forum, if working on the same project, where input is required from a number of programmers.

In most situations, I no longer see a need for email lists, aside of course from marketing and newsletter purposes. If the prime objective is to provide a tool for discussion and discourse, then a discussion forum seems to be the most appropriate tool for doing so.

I came across this great article about consuming information by Brett Bonfield for LibraryJournal.com.

Written in 2007, it provides a thorough guide for taking your information consumption to a higher level. These techniques are nothing new – however I’m still yet to employ a few of them – and they are still relevant today.

Curious? Here’s a tip from the article – load a flash drive up with the PortableApps suite and have your favourite apps, bookmarks and settings with you wherever you go.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

Due to the various operating systems, platforms and software applications that could potentially be used to open an attachment you have sent, it is necessary to take the following precautions in order to maximise the chances of the recipient being able to open the file/s.

The attachment encoding should be set to MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) which is a default setting in most modern email applications when sending attachments.

The file format being attached is another issue to be considered. Issues can arise when there are differences in the sender and recipient’s:

• – Computing platform (eg. Windows vs. Mac, Linux vs. Windows)
• – Software Applications (eg. MS Word vs. OpenOffice)
• – Character Encoding (Language Differences)

A common non-compatibility example is Microsoft’s OpenXML format, identifiable by the relatively new file extensions (”.docx”, “.xlsx”, “.pptx”). Users of older Microsoft Office applications must update their software to be able to open these newer documents, and in some cases, where a Mac user is concerned (using some versions of Mac OS 10.4 or earlier), the files cannot be opened at all. In this situation, it may be a smart move to convert the document to PDF format prior to sending, since PDF reading applications (most notably Adobe Reader) are commonly pre-installed on modern computers.

The audience (your recipients) must be taken into account when sending attachments. Are they experienced computer users? Are there any cultural differences with regards to the appropriateness of the attachment? Are they likely to have the software required to read the attached file/s? It is a good idea to attach files the recipient is likely to be familiar with as this will most likely improve the chances that they will actually open the file.

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

Since the email account I have set up is specifically for this exercise, I have created a rule as an example, which sorts any incoming mail from the Gmail admin team (basically any sender with a “google.com” domain) into a folder labeled “Gmail Admin Messages”. Of course, as further needs arise I can create more of these rules. I love this feature of Outlook!

Some of the Rule options available in Outlook 2007

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?

My test email account is very basic – however I have organised one of my other personal email accounts with a folder setup that helps improve my email handling efficiency. As an example, it is setup with folders such as “Travel”, “Receipts”, and several folders related to services I regularly receive email from such as traffic tolls, internet service provider, frequent flyer account, and so on. With these folders I can quickly file away statements and newsletters and know exactly where to find that information should it be required in the future. If I needed to run a search, I could quickly drill down to this folder level, rather than search through the whole account.

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the ‘cc’, ‘bcc’ and ‘reply all’ functions of email?

CC (Carbon Copy):
The ‘cc’ email function is useful when an email being sent to a recipient may also hold some informational value, or interest, though most likely to a lesser extent than that of the main recipient. Including your own email address (whether it be the same as the sending address or otherwise) can be useful as a form of reminder.

BCC (Blind Carbon Copy):
One of the most clever aspects of email is the ‘bcc’ function although it probably isn’t used as commonly as the ‘cc’ function. This ‘blind’ function allows a recipient to be included but without other recipients knowing. There are two situations where this is particularly useful; when sending to a large volume of recipients it is good netiquette to hide everyone’s addresses using this method, and when dealing with sensitive situations where it is a good idea to include a hidden recipient (perhaps a superior staff member or co-worker in a work situation) who is then aware of the situation and how you have handled it.

Reply All:
The ‘reply all’ function is especially useful for when a group email has been sent out but omits an essential detail which must then be sent to all original recipients. This function is also useful if emails are being used to organise a meeting or gathering, since the recipients can reply to all and everyone then knows who will be attending, or not.