Instant Messaging Exchanges 10 Billion Messages Each Day
Since its inception in 1996, with the launch of ICQ, instant messaging has become one of the most popular applications on the fixed web. It has in fact become a mass market, with over 10 billion messages being exchanged every day, and involving close to one in two web users in developed countries, in North America, Europe and Asia. IM is gradually nearing a relative saturation point in these countries, while still enjoying a steady rise in other countries, such as China.
-- All internet users are involved in the phenomenon, regardless of sex, education or socio economic status. Only the type of connection (broadband makes its use easier because of a lack of time constraints) and users' age create any real distinction.
-- The youngest Netizens, and teenagers in particular, are the most avid IM users, and often use it more than e-mail or their mobile phones to communicate with each other, in addition to taking advantage en masse of some of the newest features available.
-- In Europe, the average time spent using an IM tool already exceeded three hours a month, and five hours a month for users in the US, in 2004. Many youngsters chat over IM every day.
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