Business networking through IM

The social software weblog has an interesting piece on IM as a business networking tool

I work from home as a consultant and this line from the post describes my feeling for IM best – I fall squarely into the IM at work category, and I love the efficiency, the searchability, and the ease with which I can multitask 10 or more conversations simultaneously. I’m also a big fan of the way IM mediates presence — my “presence” there doesn’t require my full, undivided attention the way a phone call does, yet I can be instantly available for real-time discussion as needed (a clear advantage over e-mail).

Real-time, convenient and moderately personal – perfect…

And on a personal front, I find friends from all over the world updating me on the latest in their lives – from a new job to a recent break-up – and all without exchanging a word – sanam bewafa as IM status is enough, don’t you think – for me to reach out and say – split again? And I write this, I see ‘Crashed lap-top’ from Korea and ‘Beer is hard work’ from a friend working in a liquor company in Dubai…

Another thought I have been having for a while – I find most bloggers using a gmail account for their blog correspondence – maybe because of the huge storage space – it would be interesting for google to launch an IM service – how would that connect bloggers – would it add a different dimension to blogging interactions?

Er, my msn handle says – Say NO to deadlines – excuse me, I need to go change that now – or restrict clients to yahoo…