Don't Just Say 'Hello' In Chat

For another article about this, see nohello.com.

Just saying "Hello", and nothing else in a chat room is just as bad as asking to ask. Just saying "Hello" does two kinda bad things:

Interrupts the person you're asking.
- The person you're interrupting is likely in the middle of something. A chat client "pings" them, and they go to check (Stopping what they are doing).
- If you just say,"Hello", you've given them no information, and thusly, interrupted them needlessly.
It wastes time to resolution for your problem
- If you say,"Hello", you wait 30-60 seconds, for the other person to say "Hi back". Then they spend 30-60 seconds waiting for you to say what it is you need. That's 60 second to 120 seconds to even begin researching the answer.
- If instead, you say,"Hello, I have a problem with my key. Here is the pastebin for it, can you check, please?", instantly that person has all the info to begin answering your question. We saved 60-120 seconds of everyone's time!

Example of bad convo:

9:00 Person 1: Hi.
9:01 Person 2: Hai back!
9:02 Person 1: I have a problem with my key?  Can you check on it?
9:03 Person 2: Sure!
9:04 Person 2: All fixed!
9:05 Person 1: Yep, looks good!  Thanks a bunch!

Example of good convo:

9:00 Person 1: Hi, I have an issue with my key, can you check on it?  Here is what I think it is:  pastebinurls.com/XYZZY
9:01 Person 2: Sure, hang on a sec...
9:01 Person 2: All fixed!  Give it a try!
9:02 Person 1  Yep, all good, thanks a bunch!

In Bad Convo, it took 5 minutes to resolution. In Good Convo, took 2 minutes. See why it's better?

It very well seems rude, because you don't just jam a person up with a question right when you see them face-to-face. But face-to-face convos have a lot of nuance to them, that is lacking in IRC. And, while maybe rude, it allows for asynchronous communication, whereas Bad Convo demands a serialized communication. Asynch is better :)