I was just looking at my buddy list for IM, and realised that there are many many names on the list that I can’t identify. Some of them are probably IMs of friends who tried it out once and then never again.
Others are of dopers, which I got from their respective profiles. Sometimes someone will say something that strikes me on the boards, and I’ll want to maybe talk with that person. Usually I never do, and often that person doesn’t use IM any more anyway. So, I’ve got many names that I know belong to dopers, but couldn’t even say which ones.
Then I have IMs that I can identify, but which haven’t been used in years.
So, my question to you all is this: Do you “clean” your buddy list? Erase names of people you never talk to?
I don’t. I always wonder, well, what if I erase it, but one day really want/need to talk to that person and I can’t get in touch with them? What if he or she gets back on IM after 6 years of not using it, I’d want to know, wouldn’t I?
Sure. There are some people I “met” online who I just gradually stopped talking to. I usually erase those. I don’t clean mine often, though. Currently my buddy list is at 102, and on average there are usually 14-15 people online from my list. Screen names of old friends that are never online anymore, I usually keep. I’ve seen people disappear from the internet for a time and pop back up out of nowhere, so just in case.
Keep 'em on your list if it’s someone you’d want to talk to again- doesn’t really hurt anything. Besides, you’ll look popular if you have a large buddy list.
I used to keep my lists but it got to the point where it was too large and unmanagable so I started pruning my list. From a high of about a hundred two years ago, I have it down to thirty and five of those are family that’re on there just so I can tell if they’re online or not if my parents need to call.
I only talk to people on IM I know in real life. So I’ve only got about 70 people on it, being that I’ve only been using it for 5 years. I use the ‘Store Buddy Comment’ feature and write their real name in it so I can keep track. I don’t think I’ve ever deleted anyone.
Yes, but then I’m a bigger one. I only have 5 people on my buddy list: 3 Dopers, my mother in law and Washte (we kept in touch via Yahoo when she was in the States last year).
Hmm…well, I’m not a big IMer. I have 10 people on my Buddy List, of which 8 are people I work with. We sometimes use IMs at work.
And, I don’t consider myself unsocial. I just dislike having things pop up in my face when I’m doing something else, unless it’s someone I really, really want to talk to (or need to, in the case of work).
I have about 25 people on my list… 5 are bf’s id’s lol (we both made up joke ones at Christmas and stuff - silly but funny at the time). The majority of the others are friends from the chatroom I go to or my very close friends from my Yahoo group.
I delete people who I haven’t talked to in some time… also delete people who have pissed me off in some way (though I do think about this first - its not an off the cuff f**k you or anything). I also have a programme that helps block any unauthorised IM’s from people not on my friends list - that way I can choose to get back to them or not.
I have had problems with two people in the past - both very much deleted from my list and very much blocked in every way - it has been the only way I’ve found to deal with the people you don’t want to talk to.
I regularly IM about 5 people - my bf being the most regular person.
My IM list is pretty short to be honest. First, I started out with one yahoo ID and just added all my friends to it. As it turned out, I almost always only spoke to my boyfriend on it. No one else ever seemed to turn it on. Then, one day, I logon and another friend is on there. It turns out that I really don’t want to have other people sending me messages when I’m talking to my boyfriend (who is still an ocean away for the next few months). After one night of annoying messages, I created a new yahoo ID that I use only for my boyfriend and I use the other one when I want to talk to everyone else. This way, I can leave these cute custom AFK messages for my boyfriend too!
Yes, I clean my list periodically - better watch out!
Right now, I have a grand total of…lemme see…eight people on my AIM list. I got rid of some simply because they seem to have stopped using AIM & I have an alternate way of getting in touch with them if the need arises.
I have a Friends category (89) with the most-talked-to at the top. There is a Dopers category (4, only one of whom I really talk to), ChurchKids (15, who I never talk to) and then Drop-Ins (86), who I only talk to when I need a question answered (about schoolwork, etc.) There are about 10 people that I talk to on a semi-regular basis and enjoy having conversations with.
I use lesser-known SNs (I have several) when I feel less social, and thus avoid having the 100+ people I don’t care so much for IM me and ask me for HW assignments, etc.
I started using Trillian, but I’m so used to the AIM format that I can’t adjust. (Rather, haven’t tried to adjust.) Mudshark, on Trillian you can have people’s real names shown in place of their usernames, so that you can quickly scan for “Phil” on your list, rather than ‘Phil2hot4u’ or whathave you. You might like that. Seems like it’d be easier than the category thing.
Poor Davebear. Whenever I’ve talked to him via IM, he’s been a little miffed that he isn’t the only conversation I’m carrying on. Guess I should use one of my super-secret screen names, just for him.
Umm…you mean BOTH times? Since we’re sharing WAY too much information, here, let’s be honest about it.
And, I wasn’t miffed; just impatient. I find it hard to carry on a conversation when I have to wait 45 seconds for a response. I lose interest. RH is close; I don’t enjoy multitasking. (I do it all the time, at work. But, mulitasking IS work, for me. I’m very much a focused, single-tasker, by nature, so I don’t enjoy mulitasking.)
I think this is another guy/girl thing. (But, it could be a young/old thing, I guess.) I don’t like talking to someone on the phone while she’s doing housework or playing on the computer, either. I accept it, because it seems to be the norm, in my experience, but I don’t have to like it. It’s disrespectful, according to the way I was raised, to ask for someone’s attention and then not give them yours, in return. Maybe I’m just old fashioned.
I wouldn’t say it’s a function of gender, but age might be it. Most people I know that are of high school age, as I am, can keep 7 or 8 conversations running without a sweat, and don’t mind waiting for a response. Personally, I have about 65 buddies, but some people I know have around 100.
I suppose, if I had 7 or 8 conversations going, the waiting wouldn’t bother me, either. Because I doubt there’d be much waiting. But, I wouldn’t choose to do that. And, thanks Queenie. I feel little less like an anachronism, now.
