Quiver & Quill

As a celebrity ivy-league playboy and blind Rhodes Scholar, Cyrus Habib’s online experiences are unusual. It’s neither his blindness nor his brilliance that make him an ideal interviewee for the Life Online project, but rather his mastery of instant messenger. Ask anyone about IMing with Cyrus. They will smile and tell you the same thing ‘He’s a trip.’ This usually means one of two things: he’s an outrageous flirt or a complete jerk.

Instant messaging is an essential aspect of Cyrus’ online life. He has instant messaged from his office inside the Senate, signed on from +25 countries, and even at Starbucks from his speech equipped laptop. Cyrus’ computer reads to him. Watching him interact with his laptop gives one a new appreciation for multi-tasking. I spoke with Cyrus, while he listened to his computer read to him at 4X speed and with the stereo blasting and the phone ringing. He didn’t miss a beat. Here are the highlights:

Q&Q: When did you get Instant Messenger?

A: By the end of my freshman year. I needed a more powerful way to procrastinate.

Q&Q: Did AIM change your friendships?

A: I used it whenever I didn’t want to bother with a call; I used it to flirt a lot.

Q&Q: Are you more interested in people over AIM?

A: I find that people tend to be the same online as offline if someone is a jerk offline; they’re probably going to be one online as well. Chat is that quality of casual conversation where the stakes are incredibly low, and yet you are called to perform:

Keep it interesting, light, flirtatious, playful, engaging, and charming. There are also etiquette rule…like, not leaving without telling the other person; or not cutting/pasting what the other person says w/o permission; that’s part of good AIM.

Q&Q: What the best away message you’ve used?

A: During finals, I would often put up that I only want to speak to 4 people, “and you know who you are.” It would make people crazy. I like messages that any person could think is meant for them specifically, but they’re not sure, ya know?

Q&Q: Do you use any AIM jargon?

A: I like to say “brb” when I’m actually going out for dinner

Q&Q: Why not just going out to dinner?

A: Because i don’t want to have to deal with the whole ritual of saying “nice talking with you,” “let’s catch up again soon,” “I’ll be back on later,” etc. In order not to make it awkward, I just say “brb” It’s like slipping out in the dead of night.

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