IM: Tops with teens

This will not be a huge surprise to parents, but a new AOL study found that IM is definitely the communications tool of choice among young people. "Two-thirds of teens and young adults between the ages of 13 and 21 said they use instant-messaging more than email" (up from 49% last year), and "an increasing number of people across age groups are sending IMs from their mobile phones [almost double the 2004 figure]," according to InternetWeek's coverage of the survey. Nearly half of 13-to-21-year-olds change their away messages every day to let others know where they are, to list a cell-phone number or alternate way to be reached, or to post a favorite lyric or quote, the study also found, adding that some use their away messages to "post a call to action, like “'Please donate to the Red Cross to help hurricane victims'.” What's coming in IM-ing? The fans are asking for live streaming TV on their IM services (26%); music on demand (25%); video on demand (21%); using IM to make voice calls to other computers, land-line phones, and cellphones (21%); and replacing their primary home phone service with "IM-based Internet telephone service" (12%). Fastern your seatbelts!