Don't Just Say "Hello" in Chat

Nature of Chat vs. Phone/In‑Person

• Many argue chat should be treated as asynchronous like email, not as a synchronous phone call.
• A lone “hi” in async media is likened to sending an email with just “Hi!”—context-free and ambiguous.
• Others note some people still mentally map chat to phone/in‑person norms where greetings precede content.

Why “Just Hello” Bothers People

• Introduces extra round-trips and latency; if people are not online simultaneously, the delay can be hours or days.
• Prevents recipients from triaging urgency or effort; they can’t tell if it’s trivial or a major derailment.
• Causes context-switching and distraction, especially for focus-heavy work; notifications and “typing…” indicators amplify this.
• Some describe anxiety when a manager opens with “Good morning…” and then types for minutes.

Recommended Etiquette

• Put the question and minimal context in the first message: “Hi — I need help with X about Y.”
• Don’t “ask to ask” (“Can I ask you a question?”); just ask it.
• When requesting synchronous discussion, say what and how long: “Do you have 5 minutes to talk about Fizz?”
• Don’t spam partial messages or huge inline logs; make it easy to respond.
• Acknowledge helpful answers with a brief “ok/thanks” so helpers can mentally close the loop.

Counterarguments and Pushback

• Some view “no hello” advocates as overreacting or entitled; suggest turning off notifications instead.
• Others like to confirm availability first or think it’s polite to avoid dumping a question unannounced.
• A few say they simply ignore bare “hi” until content arrives, or reply minimally and move on.

Culture, Tools, and Work Context

• Generational, regional, and corporate cultures shape expectations; many older or non-IRC users default to pleasantries.
• Tools like Teams vs. Slack change how people use chat (more ad‑hoc DMs, more calls).
• Managers often tolerate frequent interruptions; individual contributors needing deep focus are more affected.

Variants, Workarounds, and Meta

• Recurrent related peeves: “Can I ask you a quick question?”, only pasting a ticket number, or not confirming resolution.
• Some use status messages, macros, or fantasize about bots to auto-handle greetings.
• One commenter notes the original “nohello” text came from an internal wiki, later copied to the public web without authorization.