BRB = Be Right Back!...

Most of my communication with others happens electronically, and a big part of that is instant messaging. It's pretty convenient since I mostly sit right here in front of my computer, plus with everyone having these fancy phones and such, you're all texting/IMing more. I use so many chat clients (because you all do) that I had to find a program that combines them all for me, Digsby. It really helps since I have an old, crappy PC, and running several programs at once doesn't work so well. Digsby combines my Yahoo! Messenger, AOL IM, Google Talk, MSN/Microsoft Live Messenger, Facebook chat, and MySpace IM, as well as giving me access to my emails (Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail), Twitter, and my Facebook and MySpace feeds. It also supports other sites/programs that I don't use. Digsby isn't perfect, and you can't use all of the features of each individual program (like BUZZ! on YM), and it handles audio/video differently, but for the basics of chatting, it's great. If I ever need to use any native features that Digsby doesn't support, I'll just log out of that account on Digsby and then load the actual program. An extra benefit of Digsby is that it can log your IMs, even from Facebook chat, which isn't natively supported.


I chat a lot, and I get that IMs are informal. I can handle the lack of capitalization (though "i" instead of "I" does bug me) and don't mind too much when people skip the apostrophes on contractions. I especially understand it when people are typing on their phones and the SHIFT or apostrophe keys aren't so accessible. I'm cool with the IM/SMS abbreviations for the most part, too. What I don't like, what I really, really, really can't stand, is when people don't say what they mean:

BRB = BE RIGHT BACK, NOT BYE REALLY BYE

When you send me a "brb," I'm expecting you to return relatively soon. I understand that stuff happens, that you could get busy with something else, that you're computer/phone might mess up, etc., etc., but if you don't actually intend on resuming to the conversation, just say so. Don't leave me hanging. Now, I'm not always just sitting, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for you to come back, but I do allocate my time and attention for your return. Too, if you're going to be more than 5 minutes or so, you're not really planning on being right back. Instead, say that you'll be back shortly or that you'll be back in awhile--"brb" implies immediacy!

This isn't directed at anyone in particular, it's meant for everyone who does this. And there are other habits that bug me on IM, too, like leaving a conversation without saying "goodbye" at all, or failing to conjugate verbs like "to text" (you know who you are! ;) ), but the "brb" thing probably irritates me more than anything as far as Internet chatting goes. If you don't know what something means, or, if you do know, but still don't actually mean it, then don't use that term. You have been put on notice! :D

BRB,
-B

P.S. (see, I said I'd brb, didn't I?)
For the record, I'm OK with using "lol" even if one isn't actually "laughing out loud." "Lol" has come to transcend it's literal meaning and is used to acknowledge something funny or to avoid an awkward pause or such. I do try to at least chuckle whenever I use "lol," though, just for my own amusement and attempts to be honest...lol :P