JimDabell 2 days ago

That’s exactly what’s rude about it. Don’t make sure you have their attention. Just send the actual message.

If it’s urgent enough that the actual message isn’t enough, “Hello” isn’t going to cut it either.

  • macspoofing 2 days ago

    I didn't make a value judgment on the practice, but it is a reason why you may get a "hello" message.

    • cogman10 2 days ago

      Funnily, I've mostly gotten it at 3am. I've literally had 24h time lapse from the initial hello to actual question.

      I've also had cases where I've immediately responded "hi" only to get the question about 1h later.

  • macspoofing a day ago

    >That’s exactly what’s rude about it.

    By the way, I also hate the "hello"-only message. I am, however, guilty of writing "Hey. Do you have a second to chat" - typically in cases where either through chat or video conference I want to go through something that is more involved, and I also want some confirmation of understanding and acknowledgement.

  • CGMthrowaway 2 days ago

    That's only rude sometimes. We don't typically talk to other people in real life without confirming their attention (e.g. via eye contact) first.

    • OkayPhysicist 2 days ago

      That's because we're communicating synchronously in person. If you say something when I'm not listening to you, I will probably start listening midway through your statement, and miss potentially vital info. In a slack message, I can just read it again.

      • CGMthrowaway 2 days ago

        IDK about you but I get chats from 30+ different people and I usually miss at least one person's message a day as it falls off the "front page" so to speak

    • JimDabell 2 days ago

      None of this discussion is about in-person conversations.

vel0city 2 days ago

If the notification bubble just says "hello" it's on the bottom of the stack of my priorities. If it's "hey, this alert came up..." then it's actually going to flag my attention.

If you want my attention give me a reason to give it.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2 days ago

That’s a poor reason; I just say “hi” back and tab out until there is another message. They capture my attention with details.

kevindamm 2 days ago

If the conversation needs that, many think that indicates it should be an email, or a meeting, not a chat.

  • dosnem 2 days ago

    No way that makes sense. Email is for external conversations. Meetings are hour long.