I keep my phone on silent at all times, and I keep AIM and MSN open but my status is always "unavailable," which allows me to ignore any message with the excuse "I wasn't at the PC." Nowadays.
Karl
· 2 years ago
Try not signing on for a couple weeks. You'll be surprised how awesome it is and how much easier it is than you think. I haven't used AIM for 2 years now and don't miss it.
Carl M
· 2 years ago
You need to redefine "rude" or use the "invisible" or "BUSY" option most of those systems provide. "BUSY" means .. I'm here, but don't expect a reply.
Tim F.
· 2 years ago
I only sign on to an im client when I check gmail.
Aaron Griffin
· 2 years ago
I see some people saying "just set your status to XYZ!", but that's really not the point here. People still contact you. You still get messages. No matter what you're doing, BAMF - right in the foreground you get a message from `lolfriend57`. See, here's the problem. When you get messages and are marked as "busy", not only do you STILL get an interruption, but you also still have to parse the message to know if you must ignore it or not.
Also, I just sent this link over IM to a friend, and didn't realize the irony.
WWILF
· 2 years ago
Nice subtle title!
I've stopped using IM a few years ago and I never miss it. Occasionally I do sign in (few times a year) and have a good (as in: it has a subject and I'm happy having talked/chatted to that person afterwards) chat with someone.
I prefer meeting someone face to face over chat, and e-mail for quick notes, reminders and exchanging e-letters with someone I can't see very often (because they live too far away). So, no need for IM for me!
BTW Your sidebar with the shared links runs over this text input area, covering the ends of my sentences a bit (Firefox 2.0.0.6 on Windows XP)
David Precious
· 2 years ago
@Aaron: "I see some people saying “just set your status to XYZ!”, but that’s really not the point here. People still contact you. You still get messages. No matter what you’re doing, BAMF - right in the foreground you get a message from `lolfriend57`."
Well you need to tell your contacts - "if I'm marked as busy, do not send messages to me unless it's very important". If they refuse to respect that, just block them.
All Comments
aid
See, here's the problem. When you get messages and are marked as "busy", not only do you STILL get an interruption, but you also still have to parse the message to know if you must ignore it or not.
Also, I just sent this link over IM to a friend, and didn't realize the irony.
I've stopped using IM a few years ago and I never miss it. Occasionally I do sign in (few times a year) and have a good (as in: it has a subject and I'm happy having talked/chatted to that person afterwards) chat with someone.
I prefer meeting someone face to face over chat, and e-mail for quick notes, reminders and exchanging e-letters with someone I can't see very often (because they live too far away). So, no need for IM for me!
BTW Your sidebar with the shared links runs over this text input area, covering the ends of my sentences a bit (Firefox 2.0.0.6 on Windows XP)
"I see some people saying “just set your status to XYZ!”, but that’s really not the point here. People still contact you. You still get messages. No matter what you’re doing, BAMF - right in the foreground you get a message from `lolfriend57`."
Well you need to tell your contacts - "if I'm marked as busy, do not send messages to me unless it's very important". If they refuse to respect that, just block them.