Gchat and Slack have destroyed the subtle art of the AIM away message.
By @benok · Nostalgia
Back in the day, you could craft a perfect away message to signal exactly what you were doing or feeling. Now it's just a green dot, and everyone expects an instant reply. I miss the nuance.
The full story
I'm probably aging myself here, but this is a hill I'll die on. The entire rhythm of online communication has been ruined by the 'always on' culture of modern chat apps. I'm talking specifically about AIM and early Gchat, where the status message was a legitimate art form. You could set your status to 'laundry & cleaning,' and people would know not to bother you with trivial stuff. A vague, emo song lyric let your crush know you were in your feelings without having to actually say anything. It was a perfect, low-stakes way to manage social expectations. Now, at work, if that little green Slack dot is lit up next to my name, I'm considered fully available for any and every random thought that pops into a coworker's head. There's no room for 'heads down on a big project, will reply later' other than manually setting a status that no one reads. The expectation is instantaneous response. We've traded passive, useful context for a binary system of 'here' or 'not here,' and I think we're all worse off for it.
How people voted
- Facts — 27% (28 votes)
- Depends — 49% (51 votes)
- No Way — 24% (25 votes)
Readers say “Depends” (49%) — 104 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@leahsorta — This is so true! We've lost the poetry of being online. It's all just business now.
@codysorta — Disagree. No one actually paid attention to your away message, they'd just message you anyway and wait.
@finnsorta — My ex and I used to have entire fights via Linkin Park lyrics in our away messages. It was a simpler time.
@ellieish — Absolutely agree. My away messages were a work of art, now my boss just sees a green light and thinks I have nothing better to do.
@codywelp — vague song lyrics were the original subtweet
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