To avoid the "it's not you, it's me (but it's really you)" conversations that frequent break ups, a new poll shows teens are using instant messaging as a way to avoid awkward situations.

"It's much easier to let someone down [online], to say 'I don't want to go out with you' ... even talking to them on the phone is awkward," said Erin Gifford, an AOL spokeswoman. "I think a lot more people are turning to instant messaging to have an awkward or negative conversation ... you can just sign off and that's the end of the conversation."

Afraid of confrontation, rejection and facial expressions, AOL Instant Messenger users are going online to avoid personal conversations, a new Associated Press-American Online (AOL) poll indicates.

In the poll, 22 percent of respondents indicated they used instant messaging to ask for or accept a date and 13 percent said they used it to break up with someone.

But Megan Fleischer (graduate-communication sciences and disorders) said she would not go out with a guy if he asked her via instant message.

"I think that's kind of sad," Fleischer said. "If a guy asked me out on an instant messenger, I wouldn't think he was too sincere."

Owen Malinowski (junior-engineering science) said he has used instant messaging to ask out a girlfriend he was already dating, but never for a first date.

He added he would never break up with someone using an instant messenger.

"I think that's kind of a cowardly thing to do," he said. "Do it in person or at least over the phone if you can't see them."

Brooke Peltz (senior-political science) said she thinks people's values are changing.

"Ten years ago, you wouldn't have broken up on AIM," she said.

The poll also indicated that users are instant messaging outside the realm of the traditional AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) computer application, a fact that will be highlighted by a new partnership between AOL and Gmail, a Google-based e-mail, Gifford said.

Within the next few weeks, AIM will become even more prevalent online through its integration with Gmail, which will allow users to access their buddy list through Gmail's chat box, Gifford said.

"You will be able to have your Gmail open and chat with all your Gmail buddies and have your AIM buddy list as well," she said.

The AP-AOL poll also found that 43 percent of teens used instant messaging to type things they wouldn't necessarily say in person.

Malinowski said it helps that you can't hear the other person if you're telling them something they don't want to hear.

"All they can do is type back," he said. "They can't scream or anything."

But many students indicated that much of a conversation is lost in translation when using instant messaging instead of talking on the phone or in person.

Fleischer said it is not easy to express sarcasm or humor through instant messaging.