In part, it was the sheer novelty of it all, communicating with anyone from anywhere at any time, plus the visceral excitement of all the dings, window-shaking “nudges” and gaudy emoticons. Perhaps most importantly, though, it could all take place away from my parents’ prying ears.

Bar an embarrassing rejection that I’d rather not go into, I emerged from the days of MSN relatively unscathed. Relative, that is, to some of the horror stories in Helen Lewis’s new podcast on the rise of instant messaging, Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat.

Her thesis is that MSN and its descendants – the WhatsApps, Slacks and Telegrams – are far from benign tools that speed up our communication. Their very efficiency, combined with the impersonality and ill-defined dynamics of the platforms (are they personal and private, or public and professional?), leads directly to the kind of “chaos, confusion and comedy” she discusses across the podcast’s six parts.

The first, 'WhatsApp Mishaps', leans more towards the comedy, though some of it is less laugh-out-loud than painfully cringe. I’m thinking of poor Gary at No 16, who accidentally posted an X-rated proposition to his neighbourhood WhatsApp group, while the other members were complaining about local pavements being dug up.

It is not all petty scandals; a later story hits profoundly close to home. I’m sure I’m not the only one with a relative who fell for some of the Covid conspiracy theories forwarded via WhatsApp. It is not exactly news that private messaging apps are also hotbeds of misinformation, in some ways more effective than public social media, due largely to the complete lack of moderation of posts.

But Lewis discovers a surprisingly simple and non-malicious motive for the spread of misinformation: love, and a selfless desire to keep loved ones informed.

For all the drama, she draws out fascinating lessons. In episode 2, 'Fax Machines and Foxy Natashas', she explains how group chats can even have severe political repercussions, helping to topple three Tory Prime Ministers in succession – Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

The jury is out as to whether this is official communication, open to public scrutiny. Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former Rasputin, certainly hoped it wasn’t.

Here, Lewis rightfully grills him on some of his abusive messages about colleagues, which came to light during the Covid Inquiry. It will come as no surprise that Cummings shifts the blame to Johnson.

Following its spiritual predecessor, the also excellent The New Gurus, ­Lewis’s latest podcast continues to provide proof that she is one of the most perceptive journalists exploring digital technology and human behaviour.

But, as much as I enjoyed this one, it did have me longing for the slow days of the homing pigeon.