IM Etiquette, a Brief Refresher
Submitted by michelleboule on Mon, 2007-02-05 19:42.
After chatting with some of my group, I realized that we might all need a refresher on IM Etiquette.
First, you will want to brush up on Meredith's great step by step IM set up and how to. Second, here is a list of etiquette things that will make IM a more enjoyable experience for you and those you interact with.
- You may have the default set to automatically sign you on whenever you are online. Please check and make sure this is not your default if you do not want it to be. If you are set to automatically sign in, whenever your computer is on the internet, people will think you are "on".
- Being "on" mean people will feel free to IM you and will expect an answer.
- Always put up a message if you are away or busy. This is very important and will take some time as you get used to being on IM. People usually respect a busy or away message.
- If you are IMing someone for the first time, tell them who you are so they do not think you are a random person bothering them. If you do accidentally accept an IM from a bothersome person (or someone you do not know) you can always remove or block them from your buddy list.
Have fun with your IM! I always like to leave amusing away and here messages. My current two favorites are:
"Here: yeah, well she's our witch" and "Here: this must be what going mad feels like". Both are from Firefly. If you know which episodes, then you obviously have excellent taste.
Do you think I forgot an etiquette do or don't? Leave it here for others...
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"Safe" and "Jaynestown,"
"Safe" and "Jaynestown," respectively. No, I'm not a geek at all, why on earth would anyone think that? :)
Yay! Hey, I never said geek
Yay! Hey, I never said geek like it was a BAD thing.
Oh, and I never doubted your
Oh, and I never doubted your excellent taste. ;)
Michelle, This is great
Michelle,
This is great information because I "blew it" today, I think. I had an IM invitation from someone (not sure who) who I think is connected with the 5 Weeks class. Whoever you are, I am sorry I tagged you as spam--I wasn't thinking!! I forgot that I was using my years-old screen name as the one to be used for the 5 Weeks class. Mea culpa.... I am going to put all the screen names in my IM so this doesn't happen again.
Karen Pardue
Colorado State University-Pueblo
Haha, Karen, I think that
Haha, Karen, I think that was me. I took no offense. Like most technology, or anything really, IM takes practice. I still can only hold 3-4 conversations at once, but my brother, who is 6 years younger, can have at least twice more open. It drives me insane!
Plus, as you will all learn, I am a terrible typist, and IM serves only to flaunt that for the world. *shrugs*
I LOVE Firefly.....great
I LOVE Firefly.....great taste :)
Rachel S. Kingcade
Not to drag us away from
Not to drag us away from Firefly (we can all sing the song about Jayne later), but I do actually have a couple of other etiquette suggestions.
1. It's strange but true that people can't tell the tone of a statement online. Statements are suddenly accusations, questions are insults, and sarcasm is an art. Plus, for some reason we don't seem to give people the benefit of the doubt online that we do in person. So ask for clarification and try to assume the best!
2. For me, at least, iming is about speed at the sacrifice of accuracy. I'd rather keep up as a conversation than risk having my comment become irrelevant as we all move on. So PLEASE, forgive the typos of your fellow chatters. I would hate to have someone think that I was not being thoughtful or caring about the material because of my hasty typing.
Well, once you are all
Well, once you are all subjected to my abysmal typing in chats you will realize how true the previous comment is. Typos are forgiven and shorthand spellings are accepted.
About the sarcasm: it is a good idea to keep in mind that tone comes off badly online and I try to keep the sarcasm down to a minimum unless I really know someone. Notice I said "try" as we all make mistakes and ignorance is easily flaunted online. We have all been guilty of this. So, relax, we are here to learn and make mistakes together.
All good points. Thanks for the additions!