Recall my earlier post about receiving an IM from Peter L. When AIM first popped up, I didn’t initially recognize Peter as a known contact so I was understandably wary of responding back. Peter was able to IM me because he detected my AIM presence through Plaxo. He could see my AIM presence through Plaxo based on my AIM privacy settings which allowed him to look up my AIM Screen Name based on my email address.
It occurs to me that as AIM presence becomes more prevalent, I suspect others may find themselves in a similar situation. I started to wonder if there was a proper etiquette when communicating with someone through IM, in particular with someone who may not recognize you as a known contact.
We face a similar problem with Plaxo, so we’ve published our Plaxo Etiquette guide that all members are encouraged to follow. I thought for sure there must exist some type of etiquette for IM. To my surprise, I wasn’t able to find any specific etiquette guidelines available on any of the major IM services (AOL, MSN, YIM) (actually, Microsoft did have an Instant Messaging Etiquette Guide that had some very good suggestions, but I felt this was slightly different than what I was looking for). I was able Google a number of helpful articles on IM etiquette, but here are a few of my own IM Etiquette suggestions:
- Don’t use IM for initial introductions. Try to establish some type of relationship prior to using IM.
- Introduce yourself, especially if you are contacting someone unexpectedly. Make sure they know who you are and how you know each other.
- Be brief and on topic.
- Ask if it’s OK to “talk” before jumping into the conversation.
- Use, don’t abuse. Respect your contact’s privacy. Just because you can see their AIM presence, doesn’t mean you should use it.
In my case, I was fortunate because Peter did follow proper IM etiquette. He reminded me how we know each other, and we were able to quickly address his questions.
’til next time.
Stacy Martin
Plaxo Privacy Officer
privacy @t plaxo.com
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http://www.plaxo.com/privacy Stacy Martin
