RSS
ATOMHow to end an instant messaging conversation
Posted about 1 year ago by Jon Mell
04/06/2008
View Comments (2) | Leave Comment
Instant Messaging (IM) is great - and there's still a lot of scope for corporate adoption. It's particularly useful when you want to ask a quick question to someone who you don't really no that well. It's not as scary as calling someone you've never met, and it's a lot quicker than an email which usually has to have a lot of "I'm sorry for bothering you this way but I got your name from abc and I was wondering if you could possibly help me find how I can do ...".
An instant message can look like "Hi - it's Jon here from accounts. Do you know where I can find the official expense form?" and the reply can be instant, whereas an email may not be replied to for days, if at all (especially if the person you're trying to contact is on holiday).
However, whereas you can get the answer quickly, I find it can be difficult to actually end an instant messaging conversation, especially if it is with someone you don't know. Here's an example:
A : "Hi - I heard you might be able to help me find x"
B : "Sure - it's here : http://www.rewardingdialogue.co.uk. Once you've filled it in send it to person@company.com.
A : "That's great."
B : "No worries"
A : "Many thanks for your help"
B : "Sure don't worry about it."
A : "See you later"
B : "Bye"
A : "Bye"
It definitely happens more with people you don't know so well - if you know someone I guess it's more comfortable just to end the conversation without doing so formally. Anyone else observed this behaviour in themselves/others?
An instant message can look like "Hi - it's Jon here from accounts. Do you know where I can find the official expense form?" and the reply can be instant, whereas an email may not be replied to for days, if at all (especially if the person you're trying to contact is on holiday).
However, whereas you can get the answer quickly, I find it can be difficult to actually end an instant messaging conversation, especially if it is with someone you don't know. Here's an example:
A : "Hi - I heard you might be able to help me find x"
B : "Sure - it's here : http://www.rewardingdialogue.co.uk. Once you've filled it in send it to person@company.com.
A : "That's great."
B : "No worries"
A : "Many thanks for your help"
B : "Sure don't worry about it."
A : "See you later"
B : "Bye"
A : "Bye"
It definitely happens more with people you don't know so well - if you know someone I guess it's more comfortable just to end the conversation without doing so formally. Anyone else observed this behaviour in themselves/others?
digg it!
Add to del.icio.us
Comments
There are currently 2 comments about this blog.
Chris, about 1 year ago
I find the difference lies in a combination of a) whether the other party is used to IM and b) how well you know them. If i know the other party well AND they're used to IM, a conversation never ends (i.e. it spans many weeks, years even without ever saying bye - a lack of response simply either means one isn't required, or it's the end of the conversation) If i know the other party well BUT they're not used to IM, then i give them a gentle nudge (well, not so gentle) - when i consider it the end of the conversation i'll simply say 'bye' and depending on my mood might tack something on about having a nice evening/weekend. Finally, the two cases of not knowing somebody well. In either case i'd just use a modification of the second approach - if i consider the conversation over i'll say something along the lines of 'If there is anything else you need just call me, speak to you soon!' and unless they ask me a question i don't take any further action! Long winded, but i thought i'd share!
Peter Twiggs, about 1 year ago
I've found that people under the age of 25 almost exclusively end an IM conversation with gtg, brb, bbl or cya. These terms are generally associated with things happening offline that would be too much effort to explain online... therefore I gtg.