For all that I am an early adopter, I can sometimes be a little slow on the uptake.

Take instant messaging, for example. I know that this has been around for nearly a decade, and that all the young folk (heh) have been using it as a preferred mode of communication, but I’ve mostly let it pass me by. It’s only my recent exposure to the current state of video chat that has led me to even consider IM as something that might be useful.

One problem is that there are a zillion different IM protocols. Each major web player seems to have its own: Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo!, Google, Apple, etc. Some of these play nicely together. Most don’t. People tend to just choose whichever IM client is handy. They don’t base their decision on what their friends use. So, I’m learning that my friends all use different IM protocols. Fortunately I’ve found a tool for the Mac called Adium. It’s very handy in that it “talks” to all of these at once.

So, I’m experimenting with instant messaging.

Then there’s LinkedIn. Jeremy sent me an invite to this service back in Septemeber. I ignored it. Since then, I’ve received a couple more invites. I ignored them, too. But in the past couple weeks, I’ve been reading more about the site, and everyone raves about it. So I signed up.

LinkedIn looks like “MySpace for grown-ups”. It’s a social networking site in which you link with your friends and colleagues. Ostensibly, this gives everyone access to each other’s social networks in order to facilitate business and social introductions. In reality, I’m worried that it’s just a massive spam source. (Though, to be honest, I’ve received zero spam from LinkedIn since I signed up.) It’s certainly a massive advertising venue. There are Google ads on every page. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)

Anyhow — I’m playing with both IM and LinkedIn. If you’re hooked up to either and want to exchange info, let me know.