Instant Messaging (IM) is becoming increasingly popular in social as well as workplace environments. In fact, many employees use the same IM client to communicate with both colleagues and social contacts. Thus, there are valid concerns about the impact of IM on employee productivity. One of the major advantages of IM over other workplace communication tools such as e-mail and the telephone is the implementation of presence information. In particular, presence awareness is used to determine the avail- ability and willingness of a contact to engage in communication. A current problem with IM is the one-for-all approach to presence: all contacts receive the same set of presence information. However, presence is rooted in social psychology where it is known that the awareness of another person changes the behavior of oneself. Therefore the identity of a contact affects the availability and willingness directed towards that contact. In order for presence information to be provided to contacts, it must be represented in some type of data format. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has done much work in standardizing IM and presence systems. In particular their data format for presence describes a rich set of presence information including, but not limited to, location, activity, awareness, and mood information. Such information may be sensitive and access to it needs to be controlled to ensure privacy. As with access control policies, managing the information as the number of contacts increases becomes cumbersome and complex. This dissertation draws on the theoretical foundations of presence, current standards in the domain of IM, and lessons from access control to present an enhanced presence handling model for IM. The model is developed in stages, with each stage providing a specific improvement. The first stage of the model is grounded on the current work of the IETF. As such it distributes presence on a per-watcher basis. In the second stage of the model watchers fulfill a specific role and based on this role they receive only the entrusted presence information. In practice, it implies that a "friend" may get more (or less) information than a "colleague". The third stage of the model introduces the concept of availability profiles by drawing on social awareness principles. Availability profiles add the ability to transform presence and change the presentity's behavior to incoming messages according to the provided presence information. Finally the dissertation reports on the development of the RoBIM (Role- Based Instant Messenger) prototype. RoBIM is a standards-based IM system that conforms to the IETF SIMPLE protocol and provides various standard IM features. Here, RoBIM serves as a proof-of-concept for the proposed model. This study contributed to the domain of IM and presence by addressing some of the current presence handling issues. Most importantly, the proposed model takes into account the interpersonal effects of individualizing presence information for different contacts. Thus, the model challenges conventional thought and implementation of presence in IM.

The following thesis aims to describe the transformation of telco operators' business strategy evoked by the growing popularity and usage of Internet services like WhatsApp, Skype and Netflix, also known as over-the-top services. The thesis provides comprehensive overview of transformations in the telecom industry that have been taking place globally, explaining the drivers that led to inception of free or cheaper Internet-based services, their business models. It then narrows down to the thorough analysis of the Czech market, capturing the implications that over-the-top services have on business strategy of the major Czech telco players. The analysis is strongly supported by industry reports, statistics and quantitative research. The primary research adds in telco customers' perspectives, usage and value perception of over-the-top services, as well as their satisfaction with respective telco services and their pricing. Derived findings identify major developments and trends in the Czech telco market; they also suggest compelling observations for related businesses.

This master thesis is focused on designing the client and the server part of an application for text and multimedia communication between its users. The design takes into account reusing of the components and making them easily embeddable into another application. The project consists of a detailed analysis of communication protocols used for this type of applications, a description of possibilities of the iOS platform and development on this platform. Finally, the implementation and its possible extensions are described.

The lack of physical communication cues, such as facial expressions, in text-only communication has prompted the creation of emoticons to represent feelings. Moreover, the emoticon has become a new “cultural” language adopted by a community of users who find emoticons useful for expressing an emotional state during their online communication. Using emoticons in computer-mediated communication (CMC), which includes any means of communication on the Internet, especially instant messaging (IM) programs, helps users convey and enhance the underlying emotional aspects of their communication facilitating user communication by providing non-verbal cues and clues to clarify a message. Although many researchers have studied the differences in the use of emoticons between males and females and different age groups and some even report cross-cultural differences and similarities between CMC and face-to-face (FTF) communication such research is not sufficient to understand the effective use of emoticons. The current research explores three categories of emoticons - textual, pictorial, and animated emoticons – to ask the broad question: Do North Americans and South Koreans use emoticons differently? The research examines the cross-cultural differences involved in using emoticons, focusing on the visual aspect of online communication that provides emotional cues to understand the differences in their use. Textual emoticons and pictorial emoticons of MSN messenger are used in this study's questionnaires. The results indicate the cross-cultural differences of emoticon use and recognition between North Americans and South Koreans.

No description available.

No description available.

Research suggests that college students persist in college when they feel connected to something or someone at their institution. These connections are often established through academic and social engagement. Tinto (1987) described these concepts as academic integration and social integration. Much research has been done regarding the importance of academic and social integration. Some have looked at technology's impact on the ways in which students achieve social and academic integration. However, there has been little research regarding how the current student population uses Instant Messaging to supplement traditional behaviors associated with academic and social engagement. The present study was designed to address these gaps in the present literature on social and academic integration. The purpose of this study was to examine how college students use Instant Messenger (IM). Specifically, the present study explored if college students use IM to supplement traditional behaviors associated with academic and social integration. Data were collected from emailed IM conversations, logsheets submitted by the participants, and answers to IM survey questions. The results of the analysis of these data were compared to Gatz's (1998) lists of traditional behaviors associated with academic and social integration. Results seem to suggest that college students use Instant Messaging for primarily social purposes. When students engage socially through IM, it is most often used to connect or stay connected with friends. Interestingly, the majority of the friends college students are Instant Messaging are fellow students from their home institution. When students do use IM for academic purposes, it is most often used to set up project meeting times or ask questions about a class. / Master of Arts

Instant Messaging är en digital kommunikationskanal i ett användarvänligt format för kommunikation i nära realtid. Som en växande trend på arbetsplatsen väljer allt fler företag att integrera kommunikationskanalen i sina kommunikationslösningar. Samtidigt följer användningen av Instant Messaging med en omedveten andrahands-effekt, något som lämnat synliga avtryck på företagens kommunikationsmönster. Kommunikationsteoretikerna Turner och Reinsch (2007) förklarar förekommandet genom att introducera termen multikommunikation, hur anställda identifieras gå från att ha sekventiella till simultana interaktioner. En användning som formats efter Instant Messagings avsaknad av icke-verbala indikationer i att kräva mindre koordinering och möjliggöra för anställda att fördela sin uppmärksamhet över flera interaktioner. Turner och Reinsch (2007) föreslår därför att multikommunikation är att föredra när företag värderar inre effektivitet eftersom anställda som deltar i simultana interaktioner kan överprestera övriga. Andra insatta teoretiker har istället identifierat hur avsaknaden av icke-verbala indikationer ger kommunikationssvårigheter i form av funktionsbegränsningar och intensiva kommunikationsflöden. Något som ger implikationer för anställdas arbetsproduktivitet i att Instant Messaging kan vara avbrytande, försvåra en samordnad turtagning och göra det ansträngande att förmedla känslor. Uppsatsen syftar därför till att undersöka hur anställda hanterar den multikommunikation och de kommunikativa svårigheter som uppstår i samband med användandet av Instant Messaging. Genom deltagande observationer och semi-strukturerade intervjuer, på en avdelning inom ett multinationellt industriföretag, utförs en fallstudie. Resultat visar att sättet anställda hanterar Instant Messaging är starkt bundet till den kontext kommunikationskanalen nyttjas i. I en sammansättning av erfarenheter och sociala regler identifieras överenskomna strategier vilka balanserar och kontrollerar kommunikationsflödet, samt får funktionsbegränsningar att ge en minskad negativ effekt. Genom att prioritera kommunicerat innehåll efter tidskänslighet minskar antalet interaktioner, får kollegor att inte avbrytas i onödan och underlättar till en korrekt fördelning av uppmärksamhet. Samtidigt skickas främst skärmbilder tagna i affärssystemet SAP vilka inrymmer information i ett formaliserat gränssnitt. Något som gör kommunikationsflödet mindre intensivt i att kunna ersätta otroligt många meddelanden. Det underlättar till en samordnad turtagning, snabbare responstid och mindre ansträngning i att anställda inte skriftligt formulerar information med tillhörande känslor. / Instant Messaging is a digital communication channel with a user-friendly design for near realtime communication. As a growing trend in the workplace, more and more companies decide to integrate the communication channel into their communication solutions. The use of Instant Messaging follows with a secondary effect revealed in visible marks on corporate communication patterns. Communication theorists Turner and Reinsch (2007) explains the occurrence by introducing the term Multicommunication, how employees are going from having sequential to simultaneous interactions. A use shaped by Instant Messaging's lack of non-verbal indications in allowing for less coordination and an allocation of attention across multiple interactions. Turner and Reinsch (2007) therefore propose that multicommunication is preferable to companies seeking efficiency seeing that employees participating in simultaneous interactions outperform others. Other relevant theorists have identified how the lack of non-verbal indications provide communication difficulties sprung from functional limitations and intensive communication flows. This is creating implications for work productivity as Instant Messaging interrupt ongoing tasks, disrupt the turn-taking and complicates the conveyance of emotions. This thesis therefore aim to study how employees manage multicommunication and the communication difficulties that emerge in use of Instant Messaging.  A case study is conducted, by participant observations and semi-structured interviews, at a department of a multinational industrial company. The results show that the way employees manage multicommunication and communication difficulties is strongly bound to the context of use. In a mix of experiences and social rules a set of agreed strategies is used to help balance and control the communication flow and also reduce negative effects of functional limitations. To primarily communicate time-sensitive content the number of active interactions is reduced, unnecessary interruptions is avoided and a proper allocation of attention is facilitated. Mostly send messages also consists of print screens captured in the ERP-system which holds information in a formalized interface. The use of print screens is appreciated in favor of making the communication flow less intense by replacing an incredible number of messages. This usage facilitate the coordination of turn-taking, the possibility of instant feedback and the creation of content in not having to phrase in writing to convey emotions.

<p>Denna rapport beskriver utvecklingen av en Instant Messaging klient som implementerats som en språkwrapper. Klienten använder ett känt öppen källkods-bibliotek vid namn libGaim för att få tillgång till Instant Messaging tjänster. Klienten fungerar som en språkwrapper till detta bibliotek, och låter andra applikationer nyttja biblioteket genom ett databasgränssnitt. Arbetet har utförts åt och hos Evolve i Karlstad. Systemet som utvecklats klarar att hantera vanliga Instant Messaging-funktioner så som uppkoppling av konto, nedkoppling, ändring av status, visa kompisikoner, och hämtning av information angående kompisar.</p><p>I beskrivandet av arbetet med detta system ges bakgrundsinformation angående wrappers och Instant Messaging, och dessutom angående de verktyg och metoder som använts likt byggverktyget SCons och utvecklingsmetoden eXtreme Programming. Valet av lösning och design presenteras.</p><p>Som en del av arbetet undersöks språkwrappers med hjälp av av ett antal tester. Dessa tester visade på vilka skillnader som kan väntas beroende på valet av språkwrapper. En språkgenerisk språkwrapper (som skapar ett gränssnitt mot flera språk) behöver inte utgöra någon större prestandaoverhead jämfört med en språkstatisk språkwrapper (som skapar ett gränssnitt mot ett språk).</p><p>Resultatet av arbetet blev ett system som Evolve blev nöjda med och som uppfyllde alla krav som ställdes, antingen fullständigt eller delvis.</p> / <p>This report describes the development of an Instant Messaging client that is implemented as a language wrapper. The client uses a well known open source library, known as libGaim, to access Instant Messaging services. The client works as a language wrapper for this library, and allows other applications to use the library by means of a database interface. The work has been carried out at and for Evolve in Karlstad. The system that has been developed can handle common Instant Messaging operations such as connecting a user account, disconnecting, changing an accounts status, showing buddy icons, and</p><p>collecting information regarding buddies.</p><p>In the description of the work with this system, background information is given regarding wrappers and Instant Messaging, and also regarding the tools and methods used, such as the build tool SCons and the development method eXtreme Programming. The choice of solution and design is presented.</p><p>As a part of the work, language wrappers are evaluated using a number of tests. These tests show the differences that can be expected depending on the choice of language wrapper. A language generic language wrapper (which creates an interface for several languages) need not imply any significant performance overhead compared to a language static language wrapper (which creates an interface towards one language).</p><p>The result of the work we have done was a system that Evolve was pleased with and that satisfies all the requirements, either completely or partially.</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Communication, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-70).