I am not sure why but it seems that everyone outside of the United States has an MSN Messenger ID. Personally I prefer to use AIM, Gaim, or Meebo to get to my messengering services. MSN is slow to connect, refuses to stay connected, and is a computer memory hog.
If you go overseas and meet some friends, you’ll certainly be asked if you have an MSN ID. If you live in the United States you probably don’t have one, but you might want to pick one up before you go.
What fascinates me is how various people around the world use this service. The French love to use exclamation points and one word responses (for example). Or they just write paragraphs and paragraphs.
Either way the message etiquette is certainly different, whereas Americans tend to be online messaging during the say at work, it is more of a social tool in the rest of the world. If you are online it’s an invitation to chat – as opposed to “I’m at work.”
What is your “instant messaging etiquette?”