LIVEdigitally

I have been an avid IMer (instant messenging addict) since I was big enough to reach the keys on the keyboard. Thing with that is, I’m not the only one. There are tons of people who rely on IM’s to get them through the day.

“Try as you might, though, you can’t ignore IM. Approximately 85 percent of U.S. and Canadian companies are using it, with 88 percent of those using IM on public networks, according to a 2004 survey by The Radicati Group.”

Heck, I’m at work and I’m logged in to AIM (Aol Instant Messenger) with my mobile phone as well as the PC I’m using. Chalk me up in that 85% of people using IM at work. There’s more information on private vs public chat clients here. Interesting how internet chat was once thought of as teens and creepy old single men with rickety vans.

China has about 1 Billion people, well it did last time I checked. 10 percent of them have joined the digital revolution [read: go on the internet]. That’s 100 million users, no small pickin’s. These virtual surfers are restricted however. There’s now not only 1 great wall in China, but two. The traditional brick and mortar wall that lines the north boundary, and the ‘Great Firewall’ that keeps porn and politics out of the available content. My friend (who lives in Hong Kong -which isn’t firewalled) tells me about friends of hers who blog with words like tib#t instead of tibet. Who’d ever think that blogs would be illegal?