If you wanted to contact someone asynchronously, you sent them an email. If you wanted to chat with messaging, you both needed to be online simultaneously. Modern messaging is like a cross between email and instant messaging: you can chat, live, just like with instant messaging, but you can send a new message any time you want. There is no distinction between your being “online” or “offline”. You are just an identity with modern messaging, not a presence.

From Gruber’s fantastic post on ICQ shutting down. 

When I first started using the internet for communication I dove into ICQ, AIM, Messenger, and the likes. These were ways for me to find and stay connected with friends. I also used email to compose long letters to penpals.

I’d forgotten about the requirement of being online with these tools, somehow my brain imagined I could just send messages offline. 

Now I have a preference for hierarchy of communication. My favorite tool is iMessage. I can send voice messages, type from any device, and trust the service to show what I need when I need it. It’s the most reliable (although not always perfect) and the blue messages remind me of ease of communication. 

Next up are tools like Slack. I don’t love them, necessarily; but they are such a large part of my work life that they’re critical for getting things done. 

Beyond that I love using things like blogs, Mastodon, Threads, to bounce ideas around over time and space. Email is my least favorite since 95% of it is not personal.