AIM: Kathie4Prez
Walk into any college dorm and you'll inevitably hear the chime of incoming and outgoing Instant Messages. During my time at Uni, IMing was the main source of communication, sometimes even between me and my suitemates while of course within voice proximity of one another. Why you might ask... well, it was discrete, easy, gave the ability of multitasking without seeming rude, and it was easier to share files.
I came across an article in Wired about people in Hollywood using IMing to find employment and realized, wow, what a great untapped resource for campaigns. IMing would be such a great way for constituents to contact the campaign directly. And supporters could easily share their support with their online buddies by putting in links to campaign donation pages in their profiles and away messages. The campaign could even set up a bot like AOL's smarterchild that answers FAQs. Another big plus is that most mobile phones and sidekicks support these applications. As Dina Piscatelli, a production manager for Errol Morris said:
PS. that is NOT my real AIM name, so please don't IM it.
I came across an article in Wired about people in Hollywood using IMing to find employment and realized, wow, what a great untapped resource for campaigns. IMing would be such a great way for constituents to contact the campaign directly. And supporters could easily share their support with their online buddies by putting in links to campaign donation pages in their profiles and away messages. The campaign could even set up a bot like AOL's smarterchild that answers FAQs. Another big plus is that most mobile phones and sidekicks support these applications. As Dina Piscatelli, a production manager for Errol Morris said:
"It really is something that you use nonstop," she said. "I have a Sidekick and I'm on instant messenger when I'm not at work. If I'm on location and I'm on-set and I need to talk to somebody, I immediately open my instant messenger. It's quicker than text messaging. It's quicker than e-mail."The only main downside is that "less than 10 percent of all business people use IM, roughly 20 million worldwide. But that number is increasing steadily".
PS. that is NOT my real AIM name, so please don't IM it.
posted by Kathie Legg at 2:42 PM
5 Comments:
When I was working in London, IM was blocked and I don't forsee companies changing their minds anytime soon.
However, as an idea, it has great potential. A simple version could mean you could IM kathie4prez with the word 'healthcare', and get back a short answer about the campaigns position on healthcare, a few key statistics, and links to the web site to take you to the relevant page.
I love the idea Peter! You're hired!
on a side note.... yes, many companies block the software, but many also use it. check this out.
AIM at Work
I think that many employers have mixed emotions about IM in the workplace. My work does not allow IM use for a couple of reasons. For one, my bosses think that IM is only used for social purposes and that it has no use for work purposes. Secondarily, they also argue that IM should be illegal based on its file sharing capability and copyright issues that accompany any file sharing. While I don't really buy the second argument all that much, I can see how IM could be more of a social than work outlet. That being said, I think that workplaces should embrace this new technology and use some of the business IM technology that are on the market. To the contrary of people who dislike IM, I think it could make work places more productive.
Counterpoint: Two summers ago, my friend was working at the tech start-up Meetup. They had all 6 to 10 employees crammed into a one-room office (they moved to a larger office soon after). Since some people in the office were conducting important phone calls, employees were discouraged from talking out loud. Instead, everyone was signed on to AIM and IMed each other.
And re: i like snacks's comment; I don't think AIM is any more or less 'social' than other communcation media. Telephones, email, instant messaging, and speaking face-to-face: they can all be used for 'social' or 'work' purposes.
Good example Aaron!
I will confess, my office uses AIM and i think we are better off for it. It’s easier to multi task with it.
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