Knock, knock, knock: are you IM?
Instant messaging tools like AIM or ICQ allow users to text each other in real time, and to exchange quick messages. Can you imagine something more disruptive than a text message that appears on your screen while you are trying to concentrate? Well, a recent paper by Garrett & Danziger (http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/garrett.html) will make you think again. The paper, published in one of the top peer-reviewed academic journals dealing with online communication, the Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, finds that IM users actually report that they experience fewer interruptions than non-IM users. Moreover, it looks like IM users are actually more effective online communicators. (more…)
What are we doing here?
The Information Overload Research Group. Quite a mouthful. So what is it all about? Well, the About Page has a good overview of what the group, this website, and this blog are all about.
But what are the members of this group doing here – and why? (more…)