I have to say that this new feature actually allows me to have greater quality interactions with some of my facebook connections - with whom I would otherwise have a delayed or zero interaction interface.

Having said that - everyone has their pet dislikes and if you do not like IM or are simply not so oriented  - this channel will always represent a challenge.

For me, experiencing social network attrition, this is actually a sense of relief, because now I have all those connected people that ARE relevant to me communicating to me - reducing the noise and increasing the signal.

Think it is great.