The Reappropriation of Instant Messaging: Texting Ourselves, Message Dumping, and Revisiting Conversations

Abstract

Instant messengers (IMs) have created an unprecedented shift in interpersonal communication. This study explores how users reappropriate instant messengers, their motivations, and the associated factors behind this behavior. We conducted a survey, with 81 responses, and interviewed 14 participants to understand the unexpected ways instant messengers are used for purposes beyond communication, focusing on how they are used for Personal Information Management (PIM). We used an iterative process of open-coding and affinity diagramming to reveal three key themes: users’ reappropriation of messaging technologies for saving, remembering, and transferring information; users’ struggles and strategies to find information buried in conversations; and users’ emotional attachments and attitudes about keeping and deleting this data. Our study reveals informality and accessibility as the primary motivators for reappropriating IMs and examines how this repurposing behavior connects to privacy, digital possessions, and lifelogging.