symbiosis
Friendships through IM: Examining the relationship between instant messaging and intimacy" by Yifeng Hu et al deals with the social significance of IM in a pretty good way. Through a small quantitative survey of college students they indicate that there is a positive relationship between the amount of IM use and verbal, affective and social intimacy. The results are not surprising. Quantitative studies often confirm my impressions of user patterns. I end up thinking about what my informants tell me to get more comprehensive answers. More detail and depth. I like statistics, and I'm happy when other researchers contribute with numbers, factor analyses and interesting bivariate relations. They make good references now that I'm about to start analysing my own juicy interviews.