Study: people use IM to hook up, avoid, and dump each other
By Jacqui Cheng
November 15, 2007 - 10:47PM CT

A recent survey has confirmed what many of us have long feared: the proliferation of instant messaging has begun to make younger generations more socially "challenged" when it comes to real-life interaction.

It seems she's not alone in wanting to avoid the messy personal aspects of communication. In fact, 43 percent of people who IM feel the same way, with 22 percent using IM to ask people out and/or accept them-another 13 percent admitted to using IMs to break up with someone.

Among teens, those numbers are higher: half of girls and over a third of boys said that they use IM to say things that they're afraid to in person. "If you're face to face, you can't close out the window and disappear if you've been rejected" added 19-year-old Lewis Grove. We're sure that you have an extremely healthy personal life, Lewis.

Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but teenagers spend an increasing amount of time IMing, the second annual Instant Messaging Trends Survey conducted by the Associated Press and AOL discovered.

Ars Technica
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