Becoming a Millennial

80. You May Find This Disturbing

You've finally figured out how to open & send attachments, create distribution lists, file your messages, protect yourself (sort of) from spam, and now this ...

The Associated Press, July 19, 2006 --

"Email is so last-Millenium. Young people see it as a good way to reach an elder -- a parent, teacher or a boss -- or to receive an attached file. But increasingly, the former darling of high-tech communication is losing favor to instant and text messaging, and to the chatter generated on blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The shift is starting to creep into workplace communication, too. "In this world of instant gratification, e-mail has become the new snail mail," says 25-year-old Rachel Quizon from Norwalk, Calif. She became addicted to instant messaging in college, where many students are logged on 24/7..." -- Martha Irvine  Read the entire story.

This view of email may be one of the reasons so much campus communication never gets read by students.  I'm trying to come up with a reason for the faculty :)  -- ouch! --

50. I'm Chatting :)

yo, whazzup? i just signed on with aol instant messenger fyi, my screen name is Millennial52 why? cuz i'm tryin to knock a few years off my life i think i'm down to about 48 right now.  lol i'm probably nuts to give out my screen name in my blog.  but maybe i'll get a few people to chat with me.  if i get 2 swamped i'll cancel it. anyway, beginning tomorrow i'll have my AIM running let's have a chat g2g  ttfn (that means 'got to go'  'ta ta for now')

20. My One Experience With Instant Messenger

We left the Philippines in 1996 after Carla's 2nd grade year.  She missed it greatly.  In fact, last July she chose to return to Manila for the fall semester of her senior year. 

In this photo from 1996 you can see her three rows back, twelve in from the right. 

You'll note the kids on the roof.  There are certain things you can do overseas that you wouldn't think of doing here in the States. 

Anyway, one evening late in the fall Arlene and Carla were communicating via AOL Instant Messenger and I thought I would give it a try.  I quickly created an account and connected with Carla.  It was really fun and she was pretty impressed with her old dad.

The funny thing is I never touched IM again.  I've got to give it another try.