Broadcasting Information via Display Names in Instant Messaging
Date
2005-06-13
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Abstract
Many instant messenger (IM) clients let a person specify the
identifying name that appears in another person s contact list. We have
noticed that many people add extra information to this name as a way to
broadcast information to their contacts. Twelve IM contact lists comprising
444 individuals were monitored over three weeks to observe how these
individuals used and altered their display names. Almost half of them changed
their display names at varying frequencies, where the new information fell
into seventeen different categories of communication supplied to others. Three
themes encompass these categories: Identification ( who am I ?), Information
About Self ( this is what is going on with me ) and Broadcast Message ( I am
directing information to the community ). The design implication is that
systems supporting person to person casual interaction, such as IM, should
explicitly include facilities that allow people to broadcast these types of
information to their community of contacts.
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Computer Science