I don’t know very much about chat etiquette. I can hold a normal conversation just fine. Email is easy enough. But the chat, that’s something all new to me.

Instant messaging is a great tool. It serves as a nice half-way point between email and phone call. I use it a lot for Overpass business. If I need to send you a message to say something like “Feel like going to lunch?” or “Are you watching the news right now?” then text chats are great. I don’t want to interrupt you with a phone call if your busy, but I don’t want to wait for you to check your email when it’s too late.

But when someone starts a chat message through Skype, MSN, or Yahoo and talks forever–I want to ask them for a voice conversation. I don’t like typing something and watching the “So-and-So is typing reply . . .” in the status bar. I start to get overly critical of their typing speed.

I often answer questions while they are typing new questions, which gets confusing.

There also seems to be no clear way to end a chat.

Otherperson: I’d better get going.

Me: Me too. See ya.

(I think it should end here, right? Close the chat window, but it pops up again)

Otherperson: Bye

Me: Bye

Otherperson: Have a good weekend.

Me: You too.

Otherperson: See you later.

Me (exasperated): Okay. Goodbye!

You see what I mean? It just goes on and on. I’ve spent twenty minutes in a chat conversation where my mind starts to wander and I surf while waiting for the other person to type a message before seeing “Otherperson: Are you still there?”

The needs to be chat rules. Anyone know of any?