As you might know if you’ve made it through any of my past whining, I like to chat online.
Sometimes on websites, ICQ available for chat mode when that was the thing to do, on IRC more than anywhere else. Once in a while I’ll meet someone in a forum or from a blog comment or even Google groups. Lately swapped emails a bit on Fetlife too.
Almost invariably when I chat with someone for a little bit they’ll ask if I use any form of instant messenger. Once in a while I’ll say yes. We’ll say hi right away then maybe once the next day but not have a chance to talk. Then a few days later we’ll cross paths and chat a bit. After that maybe a couple more near-misses and a few months later I think back to the person I used to chat with before I clean my list and that’s the end of that.
I think it’s because once someone is on a messenger chat list you take them for granted. You feel like you can talk any time rather than taking the opportunity to talk now. Maybe I just get boring really fast?
Either way I’m giving thought to giving up instant messengers entirely.
I feel the same way. Nowadays, I treat IM differently with different people.
With some people, it’s like e-mail but faster. Each one of us just types in something every once in a while. There are people with which we make an appointment to chat online. And there are people I refuse to IM and rather speak on the phone or e-mail.
I think it boils down to what kind of IM user you are (e.g.: do you have an IM client running all the time in the background?) and what kind of relationship you have with that person.
Hey, would you like my MSN?
What’s that people use over there?