The addition of Gmail Voice and Video Chat to Google’s list of services brought back to mind a question I’ve been thinking about for a while: have we gone past the saturation point in having different ways to chat with people? Even if you count only real-time ways to talk to people, there are a pile of instant messaging applications, more audio chat options and conference call providers than you can shake a stick at, and video options including Skype, Oovoo, and Gmail - to name a few.
And that’s not to mention just walking down the hall to talk to someone in person, which is not an option for a lot of web workers.
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As a web worker, I find myself involved in a lot of online conversations - I mean, a lot. As I write this, for example, I have four instant messenger windows open to people on various services, I’m hanging out in 3 Campfire rooms and 3 IRC rooms, and have several private IRC conversations going on as well. Sometimes Skype chats come into the picture for me as well. Fortunately, such conversation tends to be asynchronous, and can be fit in between other things - but managing it all is still a challenge. Here are 4 tips that have helped me keep the situation from getting out of control:
1. Get a Unified Client. Assuming that you have contacts spread across multiple services (as most of us do), the first thing to do is to get a unified client to cut down on the number of applications that you have to run at one time. This also gets rid of time spent flipping through interfaces, trying to remember whether Jane was on MSN or GTalk. I’m using Adium (OS X only) at the moment; in the past, I’ve had success with Trillian or Miranda on Windows as well. These solutions aren’t ideal - I’d love to find something that aggregates all the chats I’m in - but they help.
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Google Talk gives you instant messaging, Gmail notifications, voice calling from PC to PC, and file transfers (though the last three are not available in Gmail chat or the Gtalk gadget). Recently, they’ve added group chat and AIM integration too. You can access it in a bunch of ways because it’s based on Jabber, a set of open instant messaging protocols supported by a variety of services and clients.
Here are tips starting with the most basic to help you get the most from Gtalk.
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The best way to be productive with instant messaging (or chat)? Don’t do it.
Seriously, IM can take up your entire day if you let it. Those who stay away from it can get a lot more done.
However, if done right, IM can be a great tool for connecting with others, networking, getting things done quickly, and being productive. I’ve been experimenting with different methods recently, and I’d like to share some of the best tips.
1. Limit your time. If you do IM all day long, it’ll be a constant interruption. If you find that people are constantly pinging you, put your status as “busy”. It’s best to have a certain time of day when you make yourself available for IM … and let your friends know this as well, so they can reach you at that time if needed. I suggest an hour a day.
2. Have a purpose. Unless you have time to kill, don’t chat just to chat. Start a chat session with someone if you have a purpose in mind (that purpose could be just to check in with a friend you haven’t talked to in awhile, but I suggest you limit these kinds of chat). If you know your purpose, you can avoid getting sidetracked and avoid idle talk.
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