"instant messaging" news, interviews, and features

News about instant messaging

• Twitter drops 140-character limit for direct messages

  The new character limit is 10,000, roughly seven times the length of the article below

• Psychologists find frisky texters everywhere

  A Drexel University survey found that 88 percent of U.S. adults have "sexted" at one point or another

• A Facebook account is no longer needed for Messenger

  In select countries, users can now sign up for Messenger with a mobile telephone number

• Want to be open to all direct messages? Twitter will let you

  Twitter users, if they want, can now accept messages from people they don't follow

• Facebook still king of social media among teens

  But Instagram and Snapchat don't fall too far behind

• Facebook launches standalone Messenger Web app

  It has many of Messenger's mobile app features

Features about instant messaging

• Who’s using Twitter? Some surprising answers

  Minorities and two specific income groups jump out among the microblogging service's most active participants.

• Did e-mail and the Internet kill the 9-5 workday?

  A recent survey indicates workers no longer know when to disconnect and walk away.

• Instant messaging etiquette: Five simple rules

  IM is huge at work and at play--and there are faux pas to avoid in both spheres.

• Unifying unified communications

  As adoption of unified communications grows, so does the management, complexity and potential harm to the infrastructure.