How to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging
January 14th, 2007 (4:56pm) Anne Zelenka 79 Comments
Instant messaging can be great as a tool for collaboration, but it can also be disruptive and annoying. We wrote before about how to screw up an email negotiation. Now let’s see how you can use IM to bother your favorite and not-so-favorite work associates.
Remember that instant messaging is synchronous, intrusive, and often tedious: in other words, an ideal platform for making a pest of yourself.
Disregard any presence indicators your colleagues use such as busy or away. Your needs are more important than anyone else’s and you know that some people regularly set their IM status to busy or away even when they’re working on unimportant stuff. Bonus: if you catch someone at the computer when she says she’s away, berate her for it. She needs to set her presence indicators according to your needs not her own.
Never check whether a person has time to chat. If he’s online and reachable, he’s all yours! In particular, make sure you never ask about someone’s availability for a work-related chat at these special times of day: in the late afternoon, when he might be trying to finish his work so he can go home; early in the morning, when he might be taking advantage of quiet time to be productive; and the middle of the night, when, if he’s on the computer at all, he’s probably not thinking about work.
Don’t set your own presence indicators when you’re busy or away from the computer. That way people trying to get a quick answer from you will feel first hopeful and then frustrated. Long term, you can utterly confuse the people you work with by setting one IM account to “busy,” one to “away,” and one to “available,” making them into random noise. Then, when someone IMs you on the “available” account, chew him out for bothering you when you’ve got something important to do.
Don’t pause to give the person a chance to respond. Stream-of-your-own-consciousness is a great way to show that you matter and your conversational partner doesn’t. Ask a question, and then ask another, or answer it yourself. Type each sentence with a “…” after it so you can indicate that you have more (and more… and more…) to say.
But when you do pause, expect instantaneous replies. When someone is IM’ing with you, she should only be IM’ing with you, not doing anything else. You should expect her to close down all other chats, turn away completely from whatever she was doing, and give you her full attention.
Consider instant messaging as a way of getting personal therapy. This works especially well with your busiest and most driven associates. It’s good for them to help another. They need to be exposed to the reality of the human condition with all its angst and ennui. Don’t hold your pain inside–instant messaging equals instant catharsis. There. Don’t you feel better now?
Don’t ever use correct capitalization or punctuation. ur 2 kewl 4 dat! You feel comfortable with the brave new world of IM, why shouldn’t everyone else? Shift keys are for sissies.
Expect that IM conversations will always be like phone conversations, with a definite goodbye at the end. If your colleague hasn’t signed off, that means the discussion is still going, so keep on typing messages even if you’ve found out what you need to know. Don’t notice when the pauses between your entries and the responses get longer and longer and longer. The longer you keep the session going, the more likely you are to annoy.
Send large files without asking whether it’s okay. You know better than anyone what people need. Don’t have any qualms about using up other people’s download bandwidth and hard drive space.
Sprinkle emoticons liberally into your messages. One in a sentence is good, two is better, three provides maximum distraction and visual harassment. Don’t know all the ones you can use? Bookmark the one you need: AOL, GTalk, MSN, and Yahoo.
Try out all the abbreviations you can think of. Learn new ones every day, so you can be as compact and opaque in your communication as possible. Don’t stick with the ones everyone knows–lol (”laughing out loud”), brb (”be right back”), and np (”no problem”). Try out some new ones, especially on people you know are likely to be unfamiliar with them. How about ptmm (”please tell me more”) or wdalyic (”who died and left you in charge”) or issygti (”I’m so sure you get the idea”)?
You may disagree about whether some of these ways of using IM are irritating or not. That’s part of IM’s unique ability to annoy–no one quite agrees on its proper use.
What irritates you most about instant messaging?
79 Comments Post your own comment
melissa says: January 14th, 2007 5:25pm
Very good ways to annoy people. I might use a few on my sister.
kelly says: January 14th, 2007 5:48pm
hehe. I needed a good laugh today. These are good fodder for future use, thanks!
Chris says: January 14th, 2007 7:51pm
Don’t forget to call and email the person at the same time as the IM conversation, it really adds to the annoyance factor. Make sure you reference information from the two other forms of communication, so that they have to listen as well as read the email and IM to follow along.
Yigal Ben Efraim says: January 14th, 2007 7:56pm
For the most comprehensive reference for acronyms and abbreviations please refer to http://www.abbreviations.com
permanent hater says: January 14th, 2007 8:47pm
Nice list.
I will never understand why people switch their status on IM to “busy” or even “away”. What the hell people - just turn off the damn IM! If you’re connected, I will IM you regardless of your status.
Phoenix says: January 15th, 2007 3:44am
Freakishly funny. I’m blogrolling this. :)
emperorbananaketchup says: January 15th, 2007 3:44am
Thanks so much…gotta admit, I need to be reminded sometimes when I could become too much of an arsehole online.
kOoLiNuS says: January 15th, 2007 4:31am
definitively some CRAZY icons people on MSN messenger use _and_ expect you can see/like
also nudges are “welcome” :-(
Karura says: January 15th, 2007 5:49am
This is utterly hilarious. One thing to remember, though, is that although it’s okay for you to say as much as you want to the other person, if they start talking about their lives, you should dismiss them with a “lol :)”. They can never be as important as you.
Tahjia Chapman says: January 15th, 2007 6:16am
Wow. I really need to use a few of these if I ever stick to a messenger. Haha…thanks.
Chris says: January 15th, 2007 6:29am
LOL…hilarious
that’s a very good list
myepinoy says: January 15th, 2007 7:34am
Ha ha. Hilarious and effective.
The question is, what if someone uses these tips to annoy you. right, you? Just asking?
China Moon says: January 15th, 2007 7:45am
Nearly all have happened in my very first log in days on Yahoo! (1993/94). Classic list. Kudos!
~China Moon
http://www.SmokesignalHomes.com
Sathe says: January 15th, 2007 9:18am
Oh GOD! ‘lol’ is the most annoying thing ever! Forget the rest, ‘lol’ should be at the top of that list. I can’t count how many times I’ve patiently ‘listened’ and given advice to my friends, and then recieved nothing but ‘lol’ in response to my own troubles. Die, thee who uses ‘lol’!
I must admit to over-using emoticons. *Embarassed* My boyfriend made me stop using the dancing cow. :(
Oh, and there’s another which I have’nt had the pleasure of trying out yet: In a group conversation, persuade all but one person to change their username and font to the same thing. The poor victim won’t be able to tell who’s who. :D
Ricker says: January 15th, 2007 11:34am
Great list. I’m going to forward it to my team and hope they learn something. One additional annoyance for the list — IM your coworker to tell him/her that you sent them an e-mail. Nothing like redundant communication to annoy the cr@p out of me.
sunmade777 says: January 15th, 2007 12:49pm
Laughing out loudly… hilarious !
cema says: January 15th, 2007 2:21pm
All of that is so true. However you forgot finding out their password and deleting all of their other friends.
femalebug says: January 15th, 2007 3:00pm
Suggestion: say something irriating/hurtfull/disgusting and the add some emoticons to sooth it up
seabelly says: January 15th, 2007 4:28pm
belly hates IM
Solo says: January 15th, 2007 4:34pm
I despair of the intrusiveness of IMs that I gave them all up in 2001 and have never since logged onto a single one since.
MSN, ICQ and Yahoo can all go jump.
Blasted things ;-)
Still, they served a purpose at the time *poignant*
- Solo xx
/Message says: January 15th, 2007 5:02pm
Instant Messaging Etiquette
Anne Zelenka makes a tongue-in-cheek diatribe about the possibilities for rudeness inherent in instant messaging use. In the following, I counter her peeved gripes with recommendations of the basic understanding that all users need to adopt to avoid ca…
Jon says: January 15th, 2007 5:47pm
I have a friend/co-worker that will IM me with all kinds of info/links/etc. even if we are sitting next to each other. I’m very social, so that’s weird in and of itself to me. But when he starts these long threads about his ideas for re-factoring some code in a shared PHP library, or developing for some new project and he wants some input, it’s frustrating because I’ll get 2-3 screenfuls of content over Trillian and the expectation that I’m supposed to drop whatever I’m doing and digest this via IM.
I’ve talked to him about it on several occasions to no avail, so as soon as an IM conversation starts veering that direction I turn off my IM client and tell him to talk to me in person if he wants help. I’m all for helping out people, but trying to discuss code over an IM is too much of a pain to handle properly.
jentera says: January 15th, 2007 8:47pm
I just wanted to say I love your blog. And so far your’s was the only one I found yet, that didn’t bore me.
ahmeddewriter says: January 16th, 2007 3:35am
I would be happy then if someone can be bothered. It sounds great. we can have more fun on it..he..he..lol
Wengistein says: January 16th, 2007 5:26am
Actually, I think how people use shortened words is… lazy. People even use shortened words from already shortened words, and that gives me the impression that perhaps the english language is detoriating. I don’t always use capitals when I type in MSN, but I do use proper grammar and punctuation.
Another thing is how people exploit the ability to nudge someone in MSN. I’ve disabled it, but when there wasn’t an option to disable, I just signed off when someone wanted to piss me off with it.
One more: when I set my status to “busy” or “away”, I actually MEAN it, yet people still start a conversation with me. I understand if there was a “Hey, you’re busy, get back to me” message, but saying “hey, how are you?” is something else.
David Gregory says: January 16th, 2007 5:27am
I pissed myself - I’ve only used skype messages a few times - I’m sure gonna try out all these where possible.
Dmitri Nesteruk says: January 16th, 2007 7:55am
Most of this is really obvious, though, isn’t it?
Mark Day says: January 16th, 2007 9:01am
When it comes to excessive emoticon use, you know it’s time to stage a “smiley intervention”…
http://markdaycomedy.wordpress.com/2006/08/19/the-smiley-intervention/
Jason says: January 16th, 2007 10:42am
A funny posting, precisely because it’s the truth. I shy away from Instant Messaging for many of the reasons listed above. It’s similar to fretting because someone is “not picking up” their cell phone; perhaps it’s because they’re busy… or being pestered by someone else.
“How to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging” « Thus Spoke Pragmatic Librarian says: January 16th, 2007 10:55am
[...] to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging” Web Worker Daily has a posting that tells how you can annoy people with Instant Messaging. I would normally add some commentary, [...]
Patti says: January 16th, 2007 12:52pm
A new abbreviation courtesy of Dimitri Martin (Comedy Central Special recently aired):
LQTM instead of LOL.
LQTM= Laughing Quietly To Myself.
Martin argues that it’s more honest. And I agree. :) :) :) :) :) :)
mikesterx says: January 16th, 2007 12:53pm
Ha! That is awesome, mainly because it happens so often.
Truly Equal says: January 16th, 2007 7:53pm
I wonder: what’s the purpose of this article in the first place? If someone is bothering you at work via private messaging, don’t PM him/her back, and don’t blog about it - solve this the old fashion, by standing up, walking to said colleague and firmly, but respectfully, ask why are you bothering me and why? If he answers, “because Web Worker Daily said so”, you’re in a lot of trouble! :-)
Baby Jebus says: January 16th, 2007 11:34pm
:S I do some of these
Marcus Cheney says: January 17th, 2007 12:14am
thats awesome!
this is how you annoy blog readers to visit your site.
http://mbcpoetry.wordpress.com
Lux says: January 17th, 2007 10:45am
This is hilarious, and I think I exist amidst a group dedicated to IM Annoyance. I do it, they do it. We do it.
Johh says: January 17th, 2007 1:22pm
WOW! LOL!
æren says: January 17th, 2007 3:07pm
hihiihi:! this made me smile ^_^
MMArankings.wordpress.com says: January 18th, 2007 6:13am
http://www.mmarankings.wordpress.com
bletebzz says: January 18th, 2007 1:30pm
nicely done! the different presence indicators are a very good way of confusing people, I have tried it!
i hope my boss does not read this.
dwergs says: January 19th, 2007 6:42am
“Sprinkle emoticons liberally into your messages”
Sorry, Anne, but I guess that makes me a major accomplice.
Jimmy B. says: January 19th, 2007 9:43am
make sure to include leet speak as well in there, its a key element in annoying the hell out of people, as it takes much time and effort to read it if your not familure with the language (i may have spelt some things wrong, im not sure) enjoy, may you all annoy your friends and most likely your foes :)
absorbation says: January 19th, 2007 10:57am
Nice article, the thing is I and others annoy people like this, without even realising it.
Adisen says: January 19th, 2007 8:18pm
Well if someone annoys me this way, I know of a great button out there for us to press…
“Block”
Beau says: January 19th, 2007 10:51pm
Good ideas for the bored person like me :P
How to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging « Organizations and Markets says: January 19th, 2007 11:13pm
[...] I enjoyed WebWorkerDaily’s suggestions on How to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging. Valuable [...]
azninsect says: January 20th, 2007 4:45am
haha so true, i know so many people that do things like this. very very irritating.
thewinekone on youtube did a feature on how badly people use these IM programs, the first point of yours is one of his main annoyances, and mine too.
Communicating Christ Incarnate says: January 20th, 2007 10:35am
[...] all of you who have annoyed me over the years on MSN and other IM programs, here is what you are doing… and this is what I don’t want you to do! Thanks! No [...]
bitternosweet says: January 20th, 2007 10:40am
my personal favorite is when people IM you, and even when you immediately reply with “hey”, you get no answer for twenty minutes. um….excuse me, YOU contacted ME!!
or then there are those strange people who IM you all the time even though you NEVER ever initiate conversations with them.
argh.
j-c says: January 20th, 2007 1:12pm
haha. lmao. another thing to annoy the shit out of people, is to click really fast and repeadetly on the “block” button, that way, your poor little victim will have tons and tons of little windows on the right on his/her screen… some might even do the WHOLE SCREEN!!
bomberchia says: January 20th, 2007 9:03pm
I will never understand why my friends would go bonkers with her team mates over a discussion for a big project online?
her: wat was e financial budget we proposed to mr nott earlier?
them: huh? wtf?
her: u dont _stand?
them: bitch..
Lauren says: January 21st, 2007 12:49am
• Being sent uninteresting hyperlinks
• Oversize file transfers (I’m only on dial up and am expected to wait hours and hours for things to come through, mind you, the file is usually something totally
useless/crappy.)
• Pointless, time-wasting conversations (They can okay at times)
Impatient contacts expecting instantaneous replies ( have a contact like that, and he has a go at me for ignoring him if I don’t reply straight away and then he also starts nudge flooding me)
• Incorrect CaPiTaLiZaTioN & punctuation !i!i!….. (I hate this so darn much)
• Animated emoticons ( I can’t stand it when people type and most their words show as emoticons)
• Text talk (I don’t mind if people want to shorten some words, but there’s no need to shorten every single darn word!)
• Changing status from online to offline over and over again to annoy people (It sure bloody works)
• People who ALWAYS have their status set to Away or Busy!!!
I sometimes accidentally forget to change my status to Be Right Back, or Away
or whatever else I am.
Jonas Bark says: January 21st, 2007 6:29am
Correct upper- undercase usage rules!
Sam says: January 21st, 2007 12:18pm
The Best Of … January 21, 2007
Over on my other, now-defunct blog (link omitted on purpose) I used to have a feature I called “In the News: People Who Are Completely Missing the Point” in which I’d take a quick tour of the week’s (or, as
jute weblog / 我相信，即時通訊會破壞人緣 says: January 22nd, 2007 2:20am
[...] 讀一下石墨工房 5.1β - 網路生活 - 即時傳訊正在破壞你的人緣？，裡頭有傅瑞德取自Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive How to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging « 所列出的可能讓你討人厭的典型使用方式如下： [...]
Tomas says: January 22nd, 2007 5:40am
Your article hepls us to learn as how to talk so to think what we are talking about.
My attempts to define properly the realtionship between the emotions we have and corection of the capitalizations was indeed good personal therapy. Thank you.
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[...] I was doing a bit of online reading and I found a guide on how to annoy people using instant messaging. [...]
Ronnie Ann says: January 24th, 2007 10:42am
I love this! Maybe Web Worker Daily can print this on an annoying T shirt - or at least create an annoying flashing screen saver. Great stuff.
Zırvala! says: January 25th, 2007 11:54am
Messenger kullanma kılavuzu
“Meşgul”, “dışarıda” gibi durum göstergelerini görmezden gelin. Sizin işin her şeyden önemlidir. “Megşul” durumundaki kişiler zaten çoğu zaman önemsiz işlerle uğraşmaktadılar. “DışarıdaR…
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[...] Zelenka’nın How to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging yazısından kısaltılmış [...]
mtnkly says: January 30th, 2007 2:21am
Good ;)
Daily Danielle » Blog Archive » I’m a victim, He’s a victim, She’s a victim,… says: February 1st, 2007 5:39pm
[...] during most days, sometimes forget that I am also working most days and so I have fallen victim to this many many [...]
chloe says: February 2nd, 2007 2:42am
lol, that made me laugh.
you forgot correcting peoples spelling!!! :]
lol
47project says: February 2nd, 2007 3:54pm
It can definitely get invasive. I run my own company and I’ve set up a series of AIM accounts for mgmt who have good ‘IM etiquette’. Only give your IM to those who have the etiquette if you don’t want to chat all the time and just want to ping others for quick info like ‘hey where was that meeting again?’. etc.
…or if you like to chatter…give it to all your bored friends that have nothing else to do.
Pale Musings says: March 2nd, 2007 9:01am
IM Etiquette
Anne Zenlenka over at the Web Worker Daily has written an outstanding article on Instant Messaging titled How to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging. Wow, I love it. It touches on so many items that I’ve had issue with. It also touches on one…
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donkeypoodle says: April 11th, 2007 10:34pm
Here’s a method to piss people off using ichat:
whenever you type a message to a person using ichat, the window will create a thought bubble containing an ellipse. If you rapidly press space and delete in the chatbox, the thought bubble will quickly appear and dissappear. I don’t know exactly what this looks like, because I am never able to see my friend’s computer when I do this, but from what I hear it’s incredibly annoying.
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ismail yk says: April 23rd, 2007 5:49pm
Freakishly funny. I’m blogrolling this :)
Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive 10 Things You Must Do to Succeed in the Web Economy « says: May 15th, 2007 6:12am
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Anne Truitt Zelenka » Instant Messaging Gets New Respect says: July 24th, 2007 7:48am
[...] know some people find instant messaging terribly annoying and a productivity sink while others think the buddy list is the center of the universe. However [...]
Michael says: September 10th, 2007 5:06am
Thanks for the useful article! I was really searching for something like this for a long time!
Jerry Brito » Archive » Guilt and loathing about IM says: October 12th, 2007 6:25pm
[...] Zlenka of Web Worker Daily posted the bee-in-my-bonnet article How to Annoy People Using Instant Messaging and Stowe Boyd responded with the snarky Instant Messaging Etiquette. Boyd is the author of a [...]
Messenger kullanma kılavuzu - Dildentele says: October 20th, 2007 10:29am
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Mazzz says: December 3rd, 2007 2:09pm
What about mixing up conversations?
That can be funny at times tbh.
Think about it, just answer “Bob”’s question in “Johnny”’s conversation.
It can be extremely annoying. ^.^
Mazzz says: December 3rd, 2007 2:15pm
Also:
Start typing a message, but half way through, stop typing and go do something more important. your contact will be waiting for ages for this message, expecting a long speech.
In the end, just send “lol” or somethin’ similar.
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