[danaris]

IME, it's partly a generational thing. People who grew up before instant, asynchronous digital communication became common seem more prone to treating chat conversations like a phone call or face-to-face conversation.

But I think a lot of it is also just individual and regional foibles. Some people feel very strongly that a conversation must begin with meaningless pleasantries or it's horrifically rude. Some people feel like it's rude to just ask you a question without first asking if that's OK—even if that's your role.

We could really do with a lot more explicit communication about communication in our culture, corporate and otherwise, setting boundaries and expectations up front.