What are the drawbacks of Instant Messaging?
Like e-mail ,IM can get out of hand. Since it is essentially always on, it is too easy for instant messaging to become distracting and annoying instead of a useful. While many companies are beginning to try instant messaging to help promote productivity, a few are uninstalling their IM programs because employees were being interrupted too frequently. Some, too, have started "lockdown" policies, banning wireless IM devices from meetings in order to miminize interruptions. People who use IM for personal or business purposes should use it discriminately, and should take advantage of features that prevent unwanted incoming messages.
Unlike e-mail, people who need to keep a record of what is being said should not use instant messaging. E-mail messages can be kept and referred to at a later date. Instant message programs do not record what is said, so users usually need to print or save each screen if they want to keep the conversation.
The biggest issue as you may well know the article is mostly about is the instant messaging compatibilty. Four major different systems are a float right now but none of the users are able to communicate with one another.
So there are drawbacks to Instant Messaging but it is a standard these days and many find it useful and entertaining as of now.