Article 03

Instant messages outpace SMS texting - Tan Weizhen

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southeastasia.asp?parentid=93362

SUMMARY:

In the article by Tan Weizhen, “Instant messages outpace SMS texting”, she analyzes the IM culture in Singapore and how its popularity is outmatching Short Messaging Service (SMS). In a survey by Microsoft, Singaporeans sent out a whooping 55 million messages per day in 2007. That’s a 1.6 billion IM messages sent out per month compared to just 1 billion text messages sent each month last year. The growth in Instant Messaging (IM) began three years ago, and coincided with the boom in broadband take-up rates. These connections allow users to stay online for as long as they want, without incurring extra charges. On IM in the workplace, Tan points out that the average MSN user logs on as soon as he gets to the office, usually 8am, and does not stop cranking out messages till he leaves at around 6pm. To top it of, Microsoft reports that there are many Singaporean IM users who never log off!