Most Commonly Used Instant Messaging Acronyms in the Workplace

[BigBlueBall News]

Shifter

December 29, 2003

Omnipod, Inc. announced today the results of a survey of 1,500 of its end-users on what instant messaging (IM) acronyms are most commonly used in the workplace. Survey participants came from a cross-section of industries and were all users of Omnipod’s Professional Online Desktop(TM) (POD(TM)), a secure, centrally controlled communications platform built on IM technology.

The results of Omnipod’s survey found that the 10 most commonly used acronyms while instant messaging in the workplace are:

1. BRB - Be right back


2. CTRN - Can’t talk right now


3. IMO - In my opinion


4. HTH - Hope this (or that) helps


5. IAM - In a meeting


6. WFM - Works for me


7. BFO - Blinding flash of the obvious


8. DHTB - Don’t have the bandwidth


9. IHMB - I hate my boss


10. SLAP - Sounds like a plan

Acronyms that are used in everyday speech, such as FYI or ASAP, were not included in the survey.

"Most casual IM users are familiar with acronyms such as LOL for laugh out loud. But with instant messaging becoming so prevalent in the workplace, we thought it would be interesting to see what slang is creeping into IM sessions among employees," observed Gideon Stein, CEO of Omnipod. "We were amused to discover that one of the top 10 most commonly used acronyms dealt with the boss, or those in a supervisory position.

There are currently more than 100 million users of IM worldwide, and Gartner Group predicts that by 2006, IM will be used more often than e-mail as the preferred method of messaging in the enterprise. While IM began as a way for people to chat casually online during their free time, it is rapidly gaining popularity among enterprise employees as it allows real-time electronic communication, remote brainstorming and is a cost-effective and immediate way to keep in touch with traveling employees, telecommuters, partners, vendors and customers. As a result, more enterprises than ever, concerned about the network vulnerabilities and security of the consumer-grade IM solutions, are deploying secure IM systems enterprise-wide.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20031229005067&newsLang=en