I’m curious to get your input on this question. I have accounts on a variety of instant messaging networks, though I’m not routinely logged in I do occasionally fire up Meebo, mostly to see if my son is online.
Sometimes I see someone I know online, that at one time or another got added to my “friends” list. When I do, I sometimes think “Oh look, it’s Fred (of course, often their name isn’t Fred) I should send him a message and say Hi!” but I never do because right after that I normally think “Ah, he’s (of course, it’s not always a he) probably busy and if he wanted to chat, he’d send me a message…” Consequently, the end result is that I rarely send IMs to anyone besides Matt (which really is his name.)
So my question is this… How do you feel about people popping up on IM? If you’re logged into IM are you open to having someone send you an “unsolicited” chat or not? I’m asking because I really don’t have much experience with IM outside of a work environment (we use it at work since we’re all virtual) and I’m really not up on the etiquette of things.
Send Me An Angel by The Dreaming
May 5th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Sorry, Michael…I’m pretty useless on this one because I never IM. I can’t here at work and at home, I’m hardly EVER on-line anyway.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:52 am
I’m very inattentive to my IM status, so sometimes people IM and although I have Gmail up, I have it minimized or I’m not even at my computer (or even in the house) - so then it appears that I’m ignoring people, but I’m not. Personally, I prefer email because both parties know they aren’t interrupting anything. This is why I don’t text people often either, especially during work hours. And on the rare occasion I do text, I spell out each word, as a matter of principle. So I’m not really the hippest with technology!!
May 5th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Say hi. It’s nice to be thought of. If the other person is busy they will say they are busy. I never get IMs from you! Oh wait, we’re not on each other’s friends list.
I know too many people that wait for the other person to say hi. They are not happy people.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I agree, just say hi if you’re so inclined. If I have a messenger up and I’m able to chat, I have my status as such. If not, I also have my status marked as busy or at work or whatever. So if I’m marked as available, I’m more than happy to chat with whomever wants to say hi.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am
GO FOR IT
May 5th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
When I’m on IM (either Yahoo, which is my primary, or Gchat, which only has one contact), my status is usually blank, which I take as sending out the “I’m not THAT busy” signal to anyone who wishes to toss me a greeting or engage me in a chat. I tend to pop in on friends I see online from time to time, but I also try to be respectful of their time, so I make sure to ask if they’re busy, and graciously accept their departure when they do have to leave a conversation.
I think IMs are just a nice, quick way to keep up with friends, so if you feel comfortable doing it, I agree with the others who have said go for it!
May 5th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I tend to say hi if I see the person online. Then again, with this time difference, I hardly ever see anyone online anymore ~ that is, when I can get online, y’all are sleeping!
M~
May 6th, 2008 at 1:10 am
I think you should go ahead and give them a quick shout-out. Sometimes people feel good to get a quick hello, …it could brighten their day.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
The way I see it, if I’m logged in, it’s to chat…so I’m open to someone popping up and saying Hi. If I’m just about to log off and I get that Hello, I tell them I’d love to chat later, but I was just logging off. If I don’t have time to chat, I don’t show as being online or if I have to be away from my computer for a few, I put up the busy signal or away or whatever, but if they’re online, they’re fair game and probably on because they are hoping to chat with someone.
That being said, I do the same thing you do…Oh look, it’s Fred, I should say hi! Aw…he’s probably busy..and then I don’t.
Sigh…
Stacie