Please don't say just hello in chat (2013) • Hacker News Board

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#61

Post by alpaca128 » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

Tenoke wrote: post #4

alpaca128 wrote: post #2

Also, please send messages once you're done thinking and writing. When someone is so inconsiderate and just does a real-time braindump in the messenger, hitting return every half sentence, I'll mute them.

I find this style much better for casual conversations given that it mimics real talk better and I can start thinking/responding from earlier.

It doesn't mimic real talk, it's 10x too slow for that. To me being on the receiving end of this is like watching a YouTube video that switches between playback and buffering every few seconds.

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#62

Post by eganist » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

JulianMorrison wrote: post #51

jasode wrote: post #33

>People who do this are generally trying to be polite by not jumping right into the request, like one would in person or on the phone - and that's great! Different people have different reasons but I notice that many people that do a naked "hi" / "hey" are trying to see if the receiver is present for an immediate reply. In other words, the sender deliberately wants a synchronous instead of asynchronous convo. They do…

Wanting a synchronous conversation is a pretty arrogant grab of someone else's time. This is also why phoning me is bad and please use texts like a civilised person.

> Wanting a synchronous conversation is a pretty arrogant grab of someone else's time.

This is an assumption, and not always a valid one. There are plenty of circumstances where synchronous comms are warranted, such as when matters are urgent for all parties or when the respondent has a reputation for losing track of async comms.

Editing to add:

I agree that "hey" and "hi" etc. are terrible openings. However, openings (incidentally also discouraged by the linked article) such as:

> × "Hello, are you around?"

> × "hi sophie - quick question."

> × "You got a sec?"

are absolutely fine in that they imply a level of urgency and need for synchronized communication. If someone's ideologically against it and inflexible towards accommodating urgency where appropriate, it's a productivity red flag.

And I'm speaking as a modestly introverted manager who tries to avoid sync comms unless absolutely needed, but the thread seems to have gone off the deep end by arguing that sync comms are absolutely unnecessary.

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#63

Post by signal11 » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

jasode wrote: post #33

>People who do this are generally trying to be polite by not jumping right into the request, like one would in person or on the phone - and that's great! Different people have different reasons but I notice that many people that do a naked "hi" / "hey" are trying to see if the receiver is present for an immediate reply. In other words, the sender deliberately wants a synchronous instead of asynchronous convo. They do…

For immediate replies I’d usually use “you there?” or “free for a quick chat?”. The naked greeting is just begging to get ignored.

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#64

Post by JoeAltmaier » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

In conversation, the equivalent is "I just have a quick question".

No you don't. You just wasted time on that sentence. An actual quick question would be, just the question. Just ask it. For god's sake.

That's my pet peeve anyway.

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#65

Post by robbyt » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

andersco wrote: post #5

Hi, is it ok if I post a comment?

Hello

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#66

Post by ramosu » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:13 PM UTC

I miss the times when people had to deal with problems that really matter.

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#67

Post by toxik » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:13 PM UTC

Kind of dystopian to forego pleasantries in the name of productivity, to be honest. There is a point to be made here, sure, but there is also something sad about it.

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#68

Post by jonbronson » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:14 PM UTC

JulianMorrison wrote: post #51

jasode wrote: post #33

>People who do this are generally trying to be polite by not jumping right into the request, like one would in person or on the phone - and that's great! Different people have different reasons but I notice that many people that do a naked "hi" / "hey" are trying to see if the receiver is present for an immediate reply. In other words, the sender deliberately wants a synchronous instead of asynchronous convo. They do…

Wanting a synchronous conversation is a pretty arrogant grab of someone else's time. This is also why phoning me is bad and please use texts like a civilised person.

That's pretty presumptive. There are any number of factors that might make a synchronous conversation desirable or even necessary. Merely seeking that out implies nothing about how someone values other people's time.

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#69

Post by moralestapia » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:14 PM UTC

I get the point but we would go further if we just stopped trying to police other peoples' peculiarities ... particularly ones as trivial as these.

Re: Please don't say just hello in chat (2013)

#70

Post by JulianMorrison » Sat, Jan 23, 2021, 4:15 PM UTC

eganist wrote: post #62

JulianMorrison wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wanting a synchronous conversation is a pretty arrogant grab of someone else's time. This is also why phoning me is bad and please use texts like a civilised person.

> Wanting a synchronous conversation is a pretty arrogant grab of someone else's time. This is an assumption, and not always a valid one. There are plenty of circumstances where synchronous comms are warranted, such as when matters are urgent for all parties or when the respondent has a reputation for losing track of async comms. Editing to add: I agree that "hey" and "hi" etc. are terrible openings. However, opening…

Those are good reasons for phoning, yes, but even then you'd be better if you're stuck in text to start off with as much urgent information as possible. "Hi Bob, the wobbulator sprocket is on fire and I need to you defusticate the gonksnaffler immediately."