Hope is dawning on the horizon. Could it be that my despondency over the abandonment of AIM is being answered? This week Facebook is building in an instant message feature. This seems to be the greatest hope yet of resurrecting live chat between friends. Although, I still don't think it has quite the advantage of AIM because it requires one to be on the actual website. But, in my world, most people are on Facebook most of the time anyway. I audit a fairly large lecture class at K-State and I can see many of the students' laptops from where I sit. Literally about one out of every two are surfing around Facebook during class.

I'm a big believer in the kind of communication that live chat technology facilitates. Facebook has been amazing at keeping connections open between friendships that have otherwise moved apart, but the quality of communication that AIM has always allowed has not been duplicated. The other day a friend of mine from Abilene was noting how several from our group of friends there were still involved in each other lives, despite most of us scattering across the country. But I had to point out it was the ones who were still using AIM.

So, I have great hopes for Facebook chat. Maybe this could bring back some of the dynamic among the "younger" generation that has been lost. (And before you leave it all over the comments, yes I know the relativeness of that statement - face to face, handwritten letter writing, etc.)