there's nothing wrong with that. there are valid reasons to say just hello. but if someone asks me to not I can do them the favor to consider my reasons and the

there's nothing wrong with that. there are valid reasons to say just hello. but if someone asks me to not I can do them the favor to consider my reasons and their preference. preferences can't trump each other. it's simply information that helps communication. and if someone just says hi and the other party gets mad for not respecting their preference, that's a different thing. that's their inflexibility and arrogance for thinking that people need to respect their preference. that said, if someone initiates communication because they want something from someone it makes sense to be nice to them after all the sender wants something. but it's just that, an opportunity to be considerate of the other. (I'm not even sure I'd notice it in someone's slack status even if I'm DMing them. but I try to accommodate my coworkers' communication preferences, because remote work is already too alienating in itself, yet there are days when I just ask them to type instead of voice chat, etc.)