> The purpose of saying “hi” is to check for presence in order to initiate a live conversation. This is exactly how I have always interpreted it, and exactly w

> The purpose of saying “hi” is to check for presence in order to initiate a live conversation. This is exactly how I have always interpreted it, and exactly why I hate it. It's trying to force an async form of communication to be synchronous. Imagine how obnoxious it would be if someone just sent you an email with no subject and the text "Hi". Don't do this. If you need to have a synchronous chat about something don't just go "Hi". Go with "Hi, when you have a few minutes can we chat about X?" So the other end can prioritize it. Better yet schedule an actual call of synchronous chats.