I think instant messaging is a great tool.  I have access to a lot of knowledge via IM during my 9 – 5 day.  That network of knowledge has helped me countless times and I try to return the favor when I’m capable.

IM is also a good way to passively communicate with co-workers, without interrupting their current progress.  They get to choose if/when to respond, organize their thoughts and maybe even do a little research prior to committing to commenting.

However, a few years ago I learned an important lesson regarding instant messaging.

Label your IM contacts clearly!

I rename every contact Firstname Lastname (categoryName).  Why?

After a heated discussion regarding web server software (the classic IIS vs Apache holy war), I typed:

Our IT guy is a flippin’ idiot! [enter]

Any guesses as to who I might have accidentally sent that lovely message?

Yup.  To our IT guy.  His nickname was one character different from someone else on my list.

Luckily for me, we were good friends and I played it off quite well.  To be clear, I had a lot of respect for our IT manager.  At the time, he had just finished the MCSE and had only toyed with Linux.

Admittedly, I’m probably not informed enough to argue against using IIS, I just wanted to use mod_rewrite.  In any case, that company is now a 100% open-source shop.