Instant Messaging Rules

By: Nancy Flynn

Foolishly, I wondered how anybody could write 210 pages on the rules for instant messaging. The instant message just pops up, you answer it, and there you are. I’d never given it much thought.

Instant Messaging Rules addresses the «… potentially costly business and legal challenges instant messaging (IM) brings to the workplace.» Although the book is principally about IM, there are many similarities between IM and e-mail, and throughout the book Flynn borrows from her two previous books, E-Mail Rules (AMACOM, 2003) and The E-Policy Handbook (AMACOM, 2000).

The book details Flynn’s 32 IM rules and includes disaster stories that bring practical application of the rules into clear focus. The stories are all true; many of them refer to recent court cases dealing with the use and misuse of IM and e-mail. The numerous legal, security and record retention issues surrounding a company’s electronic records are discussed thoroughly. «Case law on both the federal and state levels demonstrates that electronic documents, including e-mail and instant messages, are legal evidence,» Flynn points out.

Sample company statements and policies are provided as a value-added part of the book. A handy e-communication shorthand definitions list is also included for those of us who can never remember what ROTFL or PMFJI means.

And of particular interest to those of us who train, the importance and value of employee training is emphasized. «Most employers,» Flynn says, «drop the ball when it comes to educating employees about IM (and e-mail) risks and rules.» For the practical-minded, the section «Fifteen Tips for Effective Employee Training» is excellent.

by JANICE LOVE.

Training, May 2005 v42 i5 p44(1)

Disponible en la BAE: HE 7551 .F59 2004