In Gmail's chat feature (or independent chat client Google Talk or "Gtalk"), users have the option of creating a status message that appears below your name. In traditional IM programs like AIM or YIM, this would be the Away Message. In Gmail, however, the status is constantly there and has taken on some of the qualities of Twitter ("What are you doing right now?") and of social network "headlines" (as in MySpace).
I present the categories of Gmail status messages:
1. Strictly Utilitarian
The person's status reads "class" or "at work." Technically, there's nothing offensive about these status messages, except that they're pretty boring. They did get interesting around the holidays, however; I saw quite a few indicating the person's location (Austin, TX or Detroit, MI), which led to new insights on where people come from.
2. Quotes
These can be either stuffy (philosophers writing before Christ) or irreverent (TV shows). Entertaining, but the quote better be good. Otherwise you're forced to roll over their name to expand the quote to read it, and feel dissatisfied, having wasted precious internet surfing seconds. You also have to be careful using these because friends may read deeper into them than you anticipate. Avoid any quotes about love!
3. Inside Jokes
Totally incomprehensible except to another person. These are wholly annoying, unless you're in on the joke, in which case they're delightful and flattering. My friend's status the other day: "Let me put my poems in you." Thought-provoking, anyway.
4. Shout Outs
These reference another person and are cousins to Inside Jokes. Often, however, at least some fellow friends will understand the reference. For example, my friend's status read "Katz cheats," and I knew he was referring to an ongoing Scrabulous game on Facebook with our friend Katz.
5. Blanks
No status message at all, so it reads "Available." Boring! Occasionally indicating laziness, but there are worse things. I'd rather leave mine blank than bring an offensive status message into the world.
6. Busy
Coupled with the red dot with the white line, like a Do Not Enter/Wrong Way sign, this status conveys real foreboding. Sometimes combined with #1, which may help alleviate the curiosity of others.
This is Part I of a two-part post on Gchat status message protocols. Part II.
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1 comment:
You forgot the blatantly self-promotional category, such as "[Band Name] this Friday @ the Rockit Room." There is also the occasional major announcement like "It's a boy!" which usually only serves to remind me of how out of touch I've become with some of my friends.
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