Final Blog!

I first began my blog discussing how instant messaging is a convenient tool that our generation has access to-it is a form of real time communication that is made easy and convenient for us. Nowadays, IM has a plethora of capabilities such as video conference calling, linkage to a cell phone, and file transfer. I also opened up some pros and cons of IM in a business setting. Some pros were the video conference calls, which save employees time and money commuting for a meeting, eliminating small talk from email or phone calls, and the file transfer. Some cons were the spreading of viruses and a lack of productivity due to distractions such as gossip. I pondered that IM could be very useful to businesses if monitored and controlled to keep an employee on task. On my next blog I elaborated on how bosses can keep track of employee IM use to make it a more efficient tool in businesses. There is now programmed software that allows the boss to limit IM usage. This can be done by prohibiting IM use on certain days of the week, certain hours of the day or certain other uses, depending on the bosses’ needs. This software could help prevent employee IM abuse, but one of the cons is that it can be very costly to install. Finally in my last blog, I discussed the topics of digital capital and the acceleration of tranquility adapted from our readings. . As for digital capital, I talked about American Idol as an example. This TV show has grown dramatically over the last decade. IM has been a big part of this-by allowing viewers to vote by sending an IM text, viewer count has progressively been skyrocketing. American Idol has introduced millions of people to the phenomenon of text messaging which will undoubtedly transform business strategies afforded by internetworking. IM will lead the world to faster means of communication that fax and email-tool we once were astounded by. IM lets the quickest bidder win out a job or take an opportunity, allowing one to beat out the competition. Yet, there are complications of the lightning speed of communication. Though we may want to seize opportunities quickly, we try to hurry and do not give ourselves time to think about what we are bidding on, often rushing our decisions. I hope you have all been able to reflect a little more about this simple technology we have been taking advantage of for the past couple decades and see how it has had a huge impact on our business society today.