IM'ing all the day, and night, long

Instant messaging rivals cell phone use by college students I know. Especially the frequent use of "away messages" to let others know, even hour by hour, what you are doing, how you are feeling, and so forth. Our daughter updates her away message throughout the day...and we can gauge, from 140 miles away, what is going on in her life.

Maybe a bit too much connection at times, you say? A good backup alarm clock for her early theater class...I turn on the computer early, and if she hasn't logged on by when she needs to get up, then I know, hey, Dad better call...

(I need to learn more about the phenomenon of "facebooking" now...)