Ryan McCue’s Blog

This is the start of a ten things series. One new post in the series will arrive on Friday every week.
I’m starting off with ten Dos and Don’ts for IM conversations. Some of the things will be specific to the MSN client, like nudges, but the general idea of this will apply to all networks and clients.

1. Don’t say DW (Don’t worry)
   If you say something to me, don’t tell me to “DW” about it. You’ve got my interest, tell me what you want. If you used the wrong window, tell me that. Don’t ask me a question, then when I ask what you meant tell me to DW.
2. Don’t have a custom smiley (or emoticon) for every word
   The last thing I want to see is a bouncing exclamation mark every time you tell me something interesting. Or if you put an animated person jumping around instead of a word. If the smiley doesn’t contain the word, I don’t want to see it. If you really like it, put it in brackets instead of it replacing all text.
3. Don’t use foreign characters in your name
   Sure, it looks cool if you have Greek characters instead of letters, but consider screen readers. They’ll either read each character as the name of the character (consider hearing “Greek letter alpha”) or they’ll read each in it’s own language (consider hearing Greek and Hebrew when reading your buddy list). Consider that your buddies might not have the font, so it will display as a series of boxes, which doesn’t look cool.
4. Don’t have group conversations when I don’t want to join
   If you are going to invite me to a group conversation, ask me first. Anything such as “Group convo?” will do, just don’t invite me if I don’t want to. And if I do decide to join and then I leave, don’t repeatedly add me. Worst crime: adding me to the conversation then when I leave (and I will) adding me again. And then again. And then again. Quickest path to getting blocked.
5. Don’t bug me
   This is really just a general thing, but if I tell you to drop a subject, do it (except where this conflicts with thing #1). For all you know, the FBI just started watching our conversation about what we did on the weekend. Although it’s more likely my parents/room-mate/girlfriend/best-friend, you never know.
6. Do talk to me
   There’s nothing I hate as much as when someone logs on and I say “Hey” but there’s no response. Almost all networks, if not everyone, offers an “Away” status for a reason. Use it. You aren’t a black hole.
7. Do use (sensible) smileys (emoticons)
   I enjoy a laugh as much as you do, so send me funny smileys, like a guy exploding in a microwave. But don’t do thing #2 and have it 8 times in a sentence. That’s when it’s not funny. Also, use static smileys where you have the word “like” in pink and bold as a picture. I can understand that. Your normal smileys are good too, like and and other default (read: included with MSN) smileys.
8. Do wait until I finish typing
   If you see I’m typing (all good clients should support this), don’t ask me the same question. If I’m typing, it means I’m responding. Typing = responding, just like 2+2 = 4
9. Do use nudges
   Though I despise nudges and the slowing effect they have on my computer, they are incredibly useful. I might be busy reading something and miss that you said something, so if you’re looking for a response and I’m not typing (see thing #8), nudge me (assuming the MSN client here).
10. Finally, Do have fun
    Joke around, use sensible smileys (see thing #7) and liven up the atmosphere. We all like to have fun, so keep it fun. I hate boring conversations full of text. Stick a smiley face here and there and you’ll keep my interest in the conversation. Don’t use smileys and you’ll see me leave.