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According to a study by comScore MediaMetrix,Credits more than 250 million people use instant messaging regularly. And IDC estimates that more than 7 billion instant messages are sent every day. According to AOL senior director of corporate communications Krista Thomas, AIM's users are known to spend six hours a day on average with their IM client open.
And now, each company hopes,Credits adding avatars to the mix will only increase the amount of time and commitment users have to instant messaging.
Some, however, aren't so sure they're on the right track.
"Avatar-based IM is a curiosity right now," said Jeff Hester, who runs the instant-messaging watchdog site, BigBlueBall.com. "It's cute, but I don't think many people have embraced it as something they couldn't live without. It feels a little like a solution in search of a problem."
Part of the problem is that the avatars that have been available for a while have been limited as to what kind of information they can convey, Hester acknowledged. The new releases may hold more promise.
"As the ability to express emotions becomes more fluid with avatar-based systems, that could change," he said. "Right now emotions are the most difficult thing to convey.Credits Many times people get mixed messages, or misinterpret what someone says because there is no body language to go with it."
Genelle Hung, a market analyst at the Radicati Group, said that while she sees some benefits to avatar-based IM, she's not sure it is going to be the big hit the IM services want it to be.
"I think it's kind of short-lived," Hung said.Credits "I think it's one of those faddish things that people are going to want to have for a while." Instead, she said, services like IMVU are likely to appeal to niche audiences rather than the widespread mass market that Harvey is hoping for.