In the midst of last week’s short-lived military coup in Venezuela, Ethelbert Williams, a Proctor & Gamble employee who had several meetings set up with coworkers stationed in the embattled country, was caught between the influx of chaos and leadership indecision.

“The whole issue is, I’ve got key people there and they basically had to evacuate headquarters in Caracas and move into a remote location,” said Williams, Medill ’01. “I didn’t know where they went.”

In the past, when such a political uprising could take days or even weeks to quell, Williams would have lost opportunities to discuss important business plans and decisions. But Williams averted financial duress using technology common among 16-year-olds: instant messenger.

In a matter of minutes, Williams resumed contact with his business partners.

“(Instant messenger) has saved me,” Williams said. “It’s very interactive. It adds another layer of communication.”

Though Williams provides an extreme example of the software’s impact, instant messenger has affected everyday communication – especially among college students.

At universities, where students are hooked up to the Internet at a greater frequency than any other demographic, the software is changing the way students communicate, learn and interact with administrators.

‘Jump on the bandwagon’

According to a 2000 survey conducted by the Greenfield Pulsefinder, an Internet research firm, 60 percent of college students use instant messaging software.

“I suppose I’m always checking to see who’s online,” said Matt McLaughlin, a Medill sophomore who has compiled a list of instant messenger screen names for his dorm.

“A couple of weeks ago, someone sent me a random message asking what the area code in Evanston was,” McLaughlin said. “I said, ‘847. Who’s this?’ and never got a response. So I don’t know if I just helped out a drug deal or connected some long lost friends.”

For some students, the benefits of instant messenger don’t stand up to a face-to-face conversation.

“I try not to be enslaved by technology as much as I can,” said John Osterman, a Weinberg junior who has never used or owned an instant messaging device on his computer. “Sometimes (my friends) are like, ‘Jump on the bandwagon. Just do it.’

Admissions messaging

While students frolicked on the Lakefill on Thursday, three admission recruiters in the Undergraduate Admissions Office participated in a test: using instant messaging software to connect with prospies.

“Some people just came in (to the chat room) and sort of lurked and didn’t say anything except for ‘hi’ and watched what other people were saying,” said Elizabeth Enciso, assistant director of undergraduate admissions. “It was a scrolling thing. I think it was useful.”

Enciso responded to student inquiries, fostering discussion and prompting some candid replies.

“Usually there were about between five to eight people in the (chat) room at once for two hours,” she said. “Some of the students that were chatting started to talk to each other and it’s useful for them because it helps to start and develop a community.”

Enciso said instant messaging is a step in the right direction for the admissions-student relationship. Last week, she made 299 calls to students in a phone-a-thon; only 96 answered.

“I like the fact that you can get to talk to someone without the presence of being there face-to-face,” said Danny Sanchez, a prospective student from Miami who participated in Thursday’s online chat. “It’s a relatively cost effective thing to do and it’s a great warm-up for Day at NU.”

Blackboard and Beyond

Though admissions officers are just beginning to use instant messaging, some NU faculty members have been using similar software for years.

Blackboard CourseInfo, a product of Blackboard Inc. originally introduced in 1999, has been used by NU to create a Web-based learning, discussion and class tool for faculty. Blackboard has a discussion board where students can answer questions set up by the professor or respond to student remarks posted on the Web.

So far, Blackboard has been successful at NU, said Mary Schuller, a Blackboard learning support system developer.

“They give a voice to people who may not want to speak in class,” Schuller said.

Unlike the use of AOL Instant Messenger or other chatting software, Blackboard’s discussion board does not exist in “real time” but serves more as a virtual bulletin board where students can post responses to questions written long before they log on.

“We’d like to support real time communications too, but the current version of the software doesn’t support real-time communication,” Schuller said. “But they already have applications that have virtual conferences. You’ll see more integration of more features, see (professors) with video and … applications on the computer.”

the future of IM

During the first days of instant messenger in the late 1970s, experienced hackers participated in online chats discussing an array of topics that ranged from arcane computer codes to the latest details of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” films.

Today, instant messaging is a major business dominated by Fortune 500 companies such as America Online, Microsoft and Yahoo! Some say the competition between the three companies is stifling creativity and restricting user freedom.

Allucquere Rosanne Stone is very much immersed in the debate of online technologies such as instant messenger. Stone directs the University of Texas ACTLab, the radio-TV-film department’s interactive multimedia laboratory.

“Instant messenger is the outgrowth of a number of other projects that were taken from other commercial organizations,” she said. “The thing about AOL Instant Messenger (like Microsoft MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger) is that it’s a commercial expansion. As soon as you get into the situation where someone feels you can make money, the days when you could say information was free are rapidly coming to an end.”

Microsoft has been looking beyond America’s borders for the future of the technology. The company reannounced it wanted to develop digital community centers in Mexico to bring the nation online by 2006.

“We are excited about moving forward with online communications, but it’s too hard to say where anything will be in 10 years,” said Stacy Cail, a Microsoft spokeswoman.

For the lucky few in underdeveloped nations who already have access to instant messaging software, the technology is providing dividends. After saving millions of dollars in fast decision-making responses on instant messenger with business partners in Venezuela last week, Ethelbert Williams said the future of instant messenger is an investment worth making.

“It’s not a fad, it’s a cool tool,” Williams said.