Logging in to your favorite messenger program can take all of 5 seconds. Any longer than this and our patience begins to waiver. Given that we are in the 21st century – 2010 to be precise, our expectations of instant electronic communication are, to be prudent – high. Even the slightest technical glitch, hold up, or “server error” can deal a severe blow to our mood.

Perhaps there is good reason for this. After all, why shouldn’t things work as they are supposed to? The reality is that, with instant messaging in particular, there is very little tolerance for delay or fault. By its very definition, “instant” messaging implies an immediate ability to connect with friends, family and colleagues. With this medium of communication being so implanted in our culture and society, people have developed a presumption that such a service will constantly be available.

But is this a productive outlook? Should we rely on instant messaging to the point of no return (or at least to the point of risk – where an outage would in some way effect efficiency)? In the view of most – the answer is “yes”.

Having been probed, prodded, and refined over the last decade, instant messaging seems to have been successful in reaching a point where the benefits of its use far outweigh the costs and even the potential downfalls of its failures.

Don’t forget! When using instant messenger programs like MSN, Yahoo messenger, Skype, AOL, or whatever your favorite IM program is, it can be hard to convey emotion through text alone. Sarcasm or jokes may not come across as intended. Therefore, be sure to make use of embedded smiley face clip art which is usually available through your instant messenger itself. However, the number of built in smileys and emoticons are typically very limited, so if you need more, click here to download more than 10,000 smileys completely free! Use them in all your instant messenger programs, emails, social media sites like facebook and myspace, and more!