MSN Messenger Aims at Youth

A new version of MSN Messenger, Microsoft’s instant messaging (IM) client for consumers, boasts new interface features aimed at younger users—an important audience for MSN as it tries to draw users away from the market leader, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

According to a 2001 report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 74% of U.S. youth ages 12 to 17 with Internet access used IM, and 20% said it was the main way they communicate with friends. In Feb. 2003, Microsoft began beta testing threedegrees, an IM client designed specifically for 13- to 24-year-olds, and said that it would use feedback about threedegrees to improve other products. Many of the improvements to MSN Messenger are very similar to threedegrees features.

The preview version of MSN Messenger 6.0 lets users enhance text messages with animated icons (such as smiley faces), choose or import pictures to represent themselves, and challenge contacts to simple games, such as Minesweeper, among other features. It also boasts integrated support for Webcams using technology from Logitech. (Previously, an additional download was required.)