Why the fuck are you messaging me?

The BBQ Pit
1

OK, look, I have Yahoo! Messenger to communicate with my friends and sometimes with people I know from message boards and chat rooms.

I do not have Yahoo! Messenger so I can be chatted up by random strangers who saw my profile and thought we must have lots in common because we (gasp) live in the same fucking galaxy. I think randomly picking out people based on a profile that has minimal information (the city I live in, nothing more) and messaging them is, quite frankly, creepy.

So, I put little messages in all of my Yahoo! profiles stating in no uncertain terms that I do not wish to be messaged by total strangers. Threatening acts of severe violence, even. If you saw a post of mine on a message board that piqued your interest, that’s fine, say so. If we met in a chat room and you’re using a different handle, that’s fine. Tell me who you are and where I know you from. Establish some common ground. I actually have a few online pals I met this way. I’m not completely anti-social. But do not assume that just because you live in the same universe I do, I would want to talk to you. Especially since it is stated very clearly in all of my profiles (I have to say it again) that I DO NOT WISH TO BE MESSAGED BY PEOPLE I DON’T KNOW FROM A MESSAGE BOARD OR CHAT ROOM!!! DID YOU EVEN READ MY PROFILE, CREEP? YOU DID? THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU MESSAGING ME?.

Especially annoying are the ones who, after I demand to know who they are, remind them that the profile they based their decision to message me on states in no uncertain terms that I do not want to be messaged by strangers, insist on trying to chat me up, saying “Can’t we introduce ourselves?” (One guy was looking for a mate. Huh? He picks up strangers on the Internet for breeding purposes?)

No, we cannot. I think picking out profiles at random and messaging total strangers is creepy.

Usually when I’m randomly messaged, I just hit “ignore”, but sometimes, and more so lately, I’m curious as to why somebody would message someone who they know in advance doesn’t want to be messaged.

They never have a reason. They just want to talk to someone, and decided to pick someone who doesn’t want to be talked to.

Sheesh.

2

Come on, baby. Don’t be like that. How about a little sugar?

3

Once, back when I used AOL some other AOLuser jsut started chatting to me. So I started talking like the phone caller from Scream. She go freaked out a bit.
I wonder if she just picks people out at random any more.

4

(oldest joke in the whole damn world commencing in 5…4…3…2…)
So… a/s/l?

5

You know you want it.

6

So, how YOU doin?

7

I used to have Yahoo instant messanger as well and joined ‘yahoo personals’ for a month or so. I specifically stated in my ad what I was interested in and in big bold type listed what I was not interested in: married men looking for a fling.

Yet the majority of the men who personal messaged me ‘out of the blue having seen my ad’ were married and looking for discreet encounters. They admitted they got my message handle FROM my ad, which clearly stated I wasn’t interested in what they had to offer, so Thea, I understand completely. Makes you want to lean out of the message box and slap them around a wee bit.

8

I read this as “Why the fuck are you massaging me?” and I thought, I’d like a massage.

Upon learning what this is about, I must say I have never had a stranger instant message me. You must give off an approachable vibe or something. Or attract weirdos. Either way, I can’t believe people sometimes, I save instant messaging for close friends.

9

What if someone from the SDMB messaged you? Just curious.

This is another reason I don’t use my IM at all. Or it would pop up and open before I could shut it down and log on to my sister’s account. I’d tell the friend that IMed her that I wasn’t her, and I was closing it down, and they’d want to chat. WHY???

10

Can’t you remove your profile? Is there any other use for it except to let random people message you?

11

Why not just rent a billboard outside of town and in 40 foot letters. "DO NOT COME TO MY HOUSE!!! and then put your address at the bootom.

12

OOPS!!

bootom=bottom

13

Yes. Thea, if you would edit your profile and uncheck the box that says “Add this to the Yahoo! directory” (or something along those lines), voila, no more random messages.

14

Well, that might solve the problem, but it doesn’t answer the question.

15

Well the reason is they’re annoying little assfaces. She said in plain English not to message her, yet they persist. If there’s one thing I’m sure of, and there is, it’s that people are assholes. They always have been, they still are, they always will be. No sense in trying to figure out why they’re jerks. Not really gonna have much luck trying to splain the jerkiness. It is, however, possible to avoid the jerkness in this situation by removing the profile from the member directory.

16

I usually just reply ‘You know I’m eleven right?’ Works like a charm.

17

Usually works like a charm. When it doesn’t work, it makes the entire encounter exponentially more creepy.

18

You’re eleven? How you doin’?

:eek:

19

I get five or six of those a day, on ICQ. I haven’t chosen to block messages for people not on my contact list, as I do occasionally meet interesting people (met the current boyf that way), but for the most part they’re twits.

“No, I do not want to let you lick my pussy, no strings attached, :o no, living in the same city as me does not automatically qualify you as interesting, and since you obviously found my profile which clearly states my age and location, why do you persist in asking where I’m from?”

20

That would be fine. Just make sure you identify yourself as a Doper if you’re in infrequent poster I might not recognize, or if you’re using a handle other than the one you use here.

OK, just went back and edited all of my profiles, and only one of them had the “add to directory list” checked. Interestingly enough, it was not the alias that gets most of the random IM’s.

Very strange.