There's something to be said for away messages. They've created an entire subculture. People read other people's away messages for amusement. Someone quoted an away message when addressing some 700 people the other night. That's the first time I've heard anyone do that... "[So-and so]'s away message said it best when it said..."

Has this always been about or has it come about with the birth of broadband internet? People stay connected all the time so they no longer sign off of their instant messengers. "Being Online" no longer means "being connected to the internet" but rather "not being away". Some people are away ALL THE TIME. Kind of defeats the purpose of an away message.

Some people try to be witty in their away messages. Some people just try to let other people know where they are. I have a friend who has been getting a haircut for the past day and a half. I'm a little concerned about him. Some people are ambiguous in their away messages, leaving cryptic messages for people to read, never really knowing if they will actually see them or not... but everyone else wonders, "Are they talking to me?" I had one of those the other night. If that away message was for me, then I would have been the happiest girl in the world, but I'm almost positive it wasn't. I'll really never know.

But I said so in my away message.

I even read the away messages of people I never talk to. People I scarcely know. It's kinda weird... like peeking in a window or something. One guy had something like "I got in trouble" in his away message and I wanted to know why, but I didn't message him because he was away, and I never get to see him to ask him. Here again, I'll never know.