Instant Messaging

What would a day on America Online be without a phony password theft alert or another bogus email petition against AOL policies showing up amidst the spam in your mailbox?

Don't get me wrong – I'm not suggesting that the fears piqued by this constant stream of misinformation are totally unfounded. Password theft is a serious problem on AOL, and the company's rate hike for unlimited access earlier this year caught many members by surprise and angered more than a few who were already disappointed with the quality of their service.

But failing to keep informed as to what the real problems are sets members up to be suckers for pranksters, of which there are plenty to be found among America Online's 13 million or so users [as of September 1998].

Case in point: the latest bogus petition to circulate on The World's Largest Internet Service alleges that AOL is planning to eliminate and/or charge extra fees for Instant Messages, one of its core features:

Subj: Fwd: Important Notice from America Online's Staff. Date: 98-08-20 19:34:52 EDT Dear America Online and Instant Message users, Our America Online staff is planning to take away our Instant messages by September 14,1998. If you want to keep your Instant Messages free of charge,send this mail to everyone you know. It will be used as a petition. Each person you send this to, counts as one "signature." If this petition gets 1,000 "signatures," our Instant Messages will still be avaliable at no extra charge. If America Online does not recieve 1,000 "signatures," Instant Messages will still be avaliable, but only to those who pay an extra 15.00 dollars a month. If you do not care about not getting any future Instant Messages, please send this for the sake of those who want to keep thier Instant Messages free of charge. Thank you for your time and consideration. Robert McDoggan

America Online

wsdafdasd Assistance Director

The claims are absurd. Instant messaging is one of the hottest things going on the Internet-at-large, where it's available to everyone free of charge. AOL would shoo members away in droves if it suddenly demanded a $15 per month surcharge for the same service. AOL's executives know that.

And why would anybody suppose that a mere 1,000 "signatures" – representing the views of approximately .001 percent of AOL members – would be sufficient to influence America Online's pricing policies?

Lastly, this is not the first time a "save our Instant Messages" petition has circulated. Another, very similar one went around just last month:

Forwarded Message: Subj: bye bye .............. Date: 98-06-20 12:07:44 EDT Hi everyone. Im's (instant messages) will be taken away on july 18. AOL has agreed to keep them if enough people want to, and every person that reads this and passes it on counts as a signature on the petition. so please read, then send to everyone you know with this same message if you want to keep the Instant message feature on America Online!!

Thanks for your time and cooperation.

Well, July 18 has come and gone. IMs are still with us and so is the phony petition, albeit revamped with a new expiration date. AOL is not planning to eliminate or charge extra fees for Instant Messages, believe me.