These kinds of things are personal preference. Top reasons I do want people to say hello to me first over IM: * Other people looking at my screen. Common when

These kinds of things are personal preference. Top reasons I do want people to say hello to me first over IM: * Other people looking at my screen. Common when working out designs, in person or remote * I'm presenting my screen publicly and might have forgotten to turn off notifications * I might be busy and want you to email me instead so that I'll get to your request on my own time * I don't want you to think that I got your message if I haven't especially if it's set to be deleted on some timer That said I recognize that some people who don't have these problems have a "nohello" preference. I generally advise people to make their preferences explicitly known without sounding like there's only "one true way" of doing business when it comes to communication modes (and to respect others' preferences).