a multi-channel space of personal expression

Emily noticed that one of the transcripts we added to the Buzz today had red text.

It turned out that the patron had, either, on purpose or not, added HTML to his chat message, writing:

<font color=red>hello

Which turned the whole transcript red (because it's poorly-formed HTML and the font tag isn't closed).

I read awhile ago in the Pew Internet and American Life's Teens and Technology report,

IM is a multi-channel space of personal expression for teens.

I originally thought that "multi-channel" meant that teens were adept at managing more than one IM conversation at once. It really means that teens are using IM for more than just messaging, for sharing websites (sounds familiar...), pictures, etc.

In terms of expression, IM programs also allow users to express themselves not just in words, but in colors as well. So now, our users expect to be able to express themselves in colors and are maybe even trying it.