Please don't say just hello in chat.
Ask your question directly.
Imagine calling someone on the phone, going "hello!" — and then putting them on hold. 🤦♀️
Keith could have had his answer five minutes sooner — and Tim could have started thinking about the question right away, instead of staring at a lone "hi".
People do this to be polite — not jumping straight into a request, like you would in person or on the phone. That intent is great! But chat is neither of those things. Typing is much slower than talking, so despite the best intentions, you're just making the other person wait while you phrase your question.
The same goes for:
Just ask the question! 😫
If it feels brusque to ask outright, you can still be as pleasant as you like — just include the question in the same message:
It may seem trivial, but asking right away enables asynchronous communication: if the other person is away, they can still answer when they're back — instead of staring at "Hello" and wondering what they missed.
When done right — everyone's happy! 🎉
This is only half serious (kinda 👀), so please don't get mad at the person who sent you here. That said — if you see shombol.fun in someone's status or bio, be prepared to be ignored if you only say "Hello!"