There are few things in life more annoying to me than holding a conversation with someone and they leave midstream without reason or notification. For me, this aggravation occurs in face-to-face conversations, telephone conversations, IMs, Chats, E-mail, Private Messages, etc.
I believe that as technology evolves people easily forget that they are holding a conversation with a person and not a machine, so they fail to exercise proper etiquette while using their new-fangled gadgets. I understand that to survive we all must have the ability to multi-task. Some people could easily be classified as Master Multi-Taskers, while others, well others are Miserable Multi-Taskers at best.
I would definitely classify my son as a Master Multi-Tasker. While my son was visiting me a couple months ago, I watched him in total amazement as he played NCAA 2009 on his X-Box 360, while simultaneously “Tweeting”, “Texting” and “Skyping”; it was utter madness! But it did explain why, when on the rare occasion I give into temptation and actually call him on the phone, every other phrase is “What’s that Ma?” Well, I guess that’s why…
Then on the other end of the spectrum is my mother. Please allow me to take this opportunity to state how VERY much I Love my Mommy! That being said and well-understood, I Love My Mother, but I Hate Call-Waiting. Well, that is not totally accurate, I do not hate Call-Waiting, what I hate is when Call-Waiting interrupts while I am delivering my daily drone to my Mommy. But of course this is Zoo World Etiquette, so there is no real need for me to go into detail about my feelings about Call-Waiting, but suffice it to say it really tees me off.
Regardless if you are talking to someone on the phone or on the computer you need to be sensitive to the importance of the call, the feelings, and needs of the people you are talking to. It is a very delicate balance, there has to be a significant amount of maturity, understanding and cooperation in any conversation with all participants. Everyone needs to understand that if you are just chit-chatting, another call or message that involves a pressing matter may very well pull you away. But also understand that if you are discussing a pressing matter with someone, you should not abruptly turn and walk away without explanation, or just cease responding if communicating electronically.
If you do have to leave and you promise to get back with you friend, then get back with them. Even if it is to say “I am getting back to you as promised, unfortunately I am still involved in the other matter, but I wanted to let you know I have not forgotten about you. I will get back to you as soon as I can”. Conversely, when you receive the message that your friend is going to get back to you as soon as they can, know that it is as soon as THEY can, which may or may not be as soon as YOU think they can.
I often receive private message requesting help with a particular issue in Zoo World. There is some very basic knowledge that I have acquired just by just playing the game. But normally I have to consult other resources to find the correct answers to some of the questions that I am asked. I am frequently asked about the XP animals and the requirements to fulfill a specific Achievement Level; I have bookmarks for those pages. But when I am asked for the information, it does take me a little time to find the link, copy the link, and paste the link into the message so that I can mail the information back to the person that wrote me with the question. I normally try to do this within 10 minutes of reading the question, which of course may not be within 10 minutes of the message being sent. I am fully aware that different people are on the internet at different times, and because we all have Facebook friends all over the world we need to be cognizant of the various times zones / sleeping time/ work schedules of our friends.
That being said, I understand that I may not receive a response 10 minutes after I send my answer, but I do expect some type of acknowledgment at least within the next couple days of sending you the information you requested. It is only proper that if you ask someone a question, and they take the time to try and assist you, the very least you can do is tell them Thank You.
But moreover, you should give them some feedback on the advice that they supplied to you. If the information was helpful, tell them it was helpful. If the information they gave you did not solve your problem, don’t be an idiot and post disparaging and negative comments on their wall. You started off with a private one-on-one message, don’t be asinine when the suggestion does not work, and try to publicly humiliate the person because the advice they gave you did not work for you at that particular time. It may not have worked because of a problem with Facebook, or a problem with Zoo World, or God forbid a problem with YOU! Maybe YOU didn’t follow the directions correctly, maybe YOU need to clear your cache, maybe YOU have a virus. There are several reasons a tip may not work, just politely and privately inform the tip-giver that their advice did not work for you. They may possibly have alternate ideas that may help you if you let them know you still need help , but don’t try and put them down for all to see.
Also while you are using Chat and you are engaged in an ongoing conversation with one of your friends, don’t just go Offline, or leave your computer without some type of notification to the person with whom you are chatting. For those of us with a limited amount of patience, it is borderline annoying waiting for someone to respond especially when waiting for them to help you or give you an answer to something you have deemed a Life or Death situation (e.g. If they have the latest XP animal). But it is Total Torture when you sit and wait and wait for a response and then you see the person’s status change to “Idle” or worst yet, “Offline”.
I believe that is why Skype has become so popular, it provides Instant Gratification. We are all so accustomed to living in an Instant-Ready-Made-Microwave World. In addition many of the Instant Messaging apps (e.g. Yahoo Messenger) also offer the ability to see your conversation partner while you talk to them over the internet. But just as there is a definite plus side to seeing your chat-mate, there is definitely a down-side; and I’m not even going THERE!
Regarding Status Updates; don’t update your status and leave without addressing the comments your friends posted regarding your new status. Of course some Status Updates do not need any further comments (e.g. I’m leaving for work now, Goodnight all, etc.). But if you post an Update that poses a question you really should have the common decency to conduct the proper interaction with your friends as they respond. If you do not have time for conversation, then don’t pose the question.
For example, don’t post “Does anyone have the new animals?” and not expect a lot of conversation to ensue. People are going to ask you what new animal you are referring to. Then someone is going to ask if it is a Feed, XP, Welcome Basket, etc. animal. Then someone will undoubtedly ask you to loan them the new animal as soon as you get it. Then someone will ask…. well you get my point.
Granted you may not be able or required to answer all of the questions posed by your friends, some of the questions may be answered by your friends, but it is your question, so you are basically the moderator of the forum. Therefore you need to be there, at least initially, to interact with the people posting comments. If you need to leave, then just thank everyone for their feedback and inform them that you are signing off Facebook for now. The conversation may very well continue even though you have left, but at least all the participants are aware that they shouldn’t be looking for you to remark / contribute to the conversation for awhile.
It’s just common courtesy; would you pose a question in a meeting then just leave out the meeting even though the question was still being brainstormed? Or would you just turn and walk away from a friend who is obviously in dire need of your help while they are still talking to you? I truly hope the answer to both of the questions was a resounding No!
So in the future whether you are in the Zoo World Discussion Forum, Chat, Yahoo Messenger, Twitter or wherever; if you post a question, interact with those trying to help you, don’t just ask the question, and never respond one way or the other. If you need to leave, just kindly let your friend know you are leaving. Politely say “So sorry but I have to go to work” or “Please forgive me, I’m very sorry, but I have bring our conversation to a close.” Allow yourself no more than a couple more minutes to clear up any loose ends and then courteously end the conversation. If you commit to return to the conversation later, then by all means, do it!
It is so important to end a conversation properly and politely. If you just walk away or just go offline with no explanation, it is highly possible that when you try to engage the person you abandoned in the past, in a future conversation, you may be smacked with “You talkin’ to me?”
Happy Zooing Everyone
Subject: You Talkin' To Me? 
Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:17 pm
