On Calls, IM’s, and Chit Chat

Well, I think it’s time to clarify my views on Phone Calls, IM’s, and Small Talk.

While those of you that know me personally, in a social situation I am very talkative and can go on and on about all kinds of subjects for hours at a time. To me, in a social setting, small talk, and general conversations are a necessary evil.

In my personal life and to my close friends, I prefer to keep things short and to the point.

While in business and social situations, I may and will indulge in the “Hi, How are you”, “Good morning/day”, and other niceties. To my friends, I do not feel this is necessary.

Generally, I hate talking on the phone. To me if you call, it’s get to the point and move forward. I mean if you are a friend and we have not spoken to each other in an age, that’s one thing. We can catch up and shoot the shit no problem. But, since I have an open door policy in my home and my FRIENDS know where I live and can come over anytime. I sometimes don’t see the point in calling all the time just to see how one is doing. If you are my friend and you know if you are, you are my friend, and it does not need constant reassurance of that fact.

Now, onto IM’s… I hate it when people just IM and go “Are you there?” or “Hi”. Generally if I see an IM like that I’ll just ignore it. Especially if it’s someone I don’t know or just know casually. To me, if you IM me, you obviously have a question or something on your mind, so why not just start with that. For example, you might want to say something about my site. Instead of going “Hi” or “Are you there?”, why not just open with “So, what’s up with this blah blah I saw on your site today?”. It would be easier then just to answer the question and start a dialog. It’s inefficient to go through the “Hi, “How are you” phase in an IM. Sometimes, I may not be sitting at my computer, but when I do get back to it, and I see your question, it would be easy enough to answer it at that time. If you say “are you there” and I don’t answer. We may never know the answer to your question.

I know a lot of this sound harsh, but in reality, I get a lot of IM’s, emails, phone calls, etc from all kinds of sources, I know you do as well. I won’t waste your time by going “are you there” and digressing to small talk before getting to the point. So, why should you waste my time by doing the same?

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