One reason I’M sticking with Live Messenger

March 2, 2007

I didn’t use Live Messenger for a long time, and actually went so far as to uninstall it from my machines; but, you know how it is; lots of my friends still prefer to use Live Messenger rather than Skype or Google Talk, so I installed it again.

I was going through my news feeds this morning and noticed this post at Major Nelson’s blog. The post links off to an article on the Live Messenger blog, about a new emoticon that you can add to your Live Messenger display name:

By adding the I’M emoticon to your display name, a portion of the advertising revenue, generated by Live Messenger will go to the charity of your choosing. From the article:

What are the i’m emoticon codes and causes?

• American Red Cross — ready to help, code = *red+u
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America — providing a positive place for kids, code = *bgca
• National AIDS Fund — fighting AIDS, code = *naf
• National MS Society — joining the MS movement, code = *mssoc
• ninemillion.org — helping 9 million refugee kids, code = *9mil
• Sierra Club — exploring and protecting the planet, code = *sierra
• StopGlobalWarming.org — stopping global warming, code = *help
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure — finding the cure, code = *komen
• UNICEF — helping kids survive, code = *unicef

The more IMs you send and receive, the greater the portion of ad revenue goes to the charity. Although the donations only apply to users in the States at the moment, the Live Messenger team are encouraging people outside the US to add the I’M emoticon anyway to show their support. It’s worth pointing out that:

If you are in the US and you are IMing with a contact in another country your IM activity will be counted towards the donation.

So, get your Stateside MSN friends to add the emoticon to their display name and get chatting! The Live Messenger team are also asking people in other countries to sign-up, I’m guessing to expand the program to beyond the US.

With the use of IM so widespread (1/4 billion users, worldwide, for Live Messenger alone), this is an easy way for all users to make a contribution - the sooner this gets rolled out to all Messenger regions the better.

Technorati Tags: instant messaging, I’m initiative, Live Messenger, MSN, IM, charity, good cause

Posted in Microsoft