The problem for me is that people haven’t really clued into social norms for chat clients as it is, and poorly-implemented clients make this worse. Some people

The problem for me is that people haven’t really clued into social norms for chat clients as it is, and poorly-implemented clients make this worse. Some people honestly seem oblivious to any current chat status, launching into complex questions and expecting immediate replies just because you seem alive right now. I’m sorry but once I’m “in conference call” or otherwise really busy, you should get the hint. I shouldn’t need a chat client that lets me be virtually invisible just to get work done. And generally, I hate chat for work. E-mail/bug-track is enough. I want to deal with things when I actually have time to deal with them, not when someone else assumes I have infinite availability.