Excellent article that I relate to wholeheartedly from the introvert's perspective. I have a pile of IM accounts on various services, but find that I rarely log into them unless I'm specifically waiting for a call or am out of the office for an extended period and need to advertise my presence to colleagues (Yes, I'm still alive!)
TidBITS Opinion: Instant Messaging for Introverts by Joe Kissell :
"From time to time, someone I know asks me an ordinary and reasonable question: 'What's your iChat (or Skype) ID?' My usual reply is to give them the information along with a big disclaimer: I'm almost never logged in. In fact, let me be completely honest and say I thoroughly dislike instant messaging (IM) except in a few specific situations. For months, I've been thinking about why this is - both the technological and psychological aspects - along with whether it somehow exposes a fundamental character flaw, and whether it's something I should attempt to change. Having experimented with a variety of approaches to instant messaging (as well as its close relative Twitter) and having done a considerable amount of introspection, I'm inclined to think that my personality type is fundamentally ill-suited to instant messaging. Specifically, I'd like to advance the thesis that - for some people at least - an aversion to instant messaging is a natural consequence of one's temperament, and that this is neither good nor bad in and of itself, though it does of course have consequences."