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The status indicator actually meant something when you had to "sign on" and "sign off." You were available; tying up your phone line. Now I don't trust the gree

The status indicator actually meant something when you had to "sign on" and "sign off." You were available; tying up your phone line. Now I don't trust the green bubble with availability with modern messengers. Maybe they just turned on their phone for a minute to check a post/email and are busy again. So I ignore it mostly. ~ I remember setting special alerts for people when they would sign on, setting schedules explicit or implicit to talk to people. Maybe we need to revisit how to intentionally capture presence in our messengers.

gnicholas 5y ago
I also miss the status indicator and away messages from AIM days. I remember thinking that I wished FB had away messages, and then I realized that of course they never would because it runs counter to FB's desire for you to constantly be posting new updates for people to engage with. With AIM, you just rotated between 'available' and various custom/preset away messages. People would use FB much less if that's how it was. To be fair, maybe Messenger has/will get these features at some point? I have no idea but I hate Messenger and how FB pushes it on us so I avoid it at all costs.
- milkytron 5y ago
  I don't use FB, but the status indicator is available in other messaging platforms that I've used lately (Slack and Teams). I really appreciate it when people set their status, like when they go away for lunch, are running an errand, or working from home (pre-covid). If you're tired of FB and their messenger, you could always delete your account ;)
  - gnicholas 5y ago
    I would delete Messenger if I could. I'm not completely opposed to FB but have been using it less and less. I've considered posting a status update that is essentially an 'away message', letting people know I'm 'away' from FB and letting them know they can reach me another way.
- philwelch 5y ago
  It’s funny because I remember early on how Facebook status updates were treated as analogous to AIM away messages.

gnicholas 5y ago

I also miss the status indicator and away messages from AIM days. I remember thinking that I wished FB had away messages, and then I realized that of course they never would because it runs counter to FB's desire for you to constantly be posting new updates for people to engage with. With AIM, you just rotated between 'available' and various custom/preset away messages. People would use FB much less if that's how it was. To be fair, maybe Messenger has/will get these features at some point? I have no idea but I hate Messenger and how FB pushes it on us so I avoid it at all costs.

milkytron 5y ago
I don't use FB, but the status indicator is available in other messaging platforms that I've used lately (Slack and Teams). I really appreciate it when people set their status, like when they go away for lunch, are running an errand, or working from home (pre-covid). If you're tired of FB and their messenger, you could always delete your account ;)
- gnicholas 5y ago
  I would delete Messenger if I could. I'm not completely opposed to FB but have been using it less and less. I've considered posting a status update that is essentially an 'away message', letting people know I'm 'away' from FB and letting them know they can reach me another way.
philwelch 5y ago
It’s funny because I remember early on how Facebook status updates were treated as analogous to AIM away messages.