1) Always assume the person you are about to IM is in the middle of reading or typing something else. We’re at work…working…on computers.
2) Use complete paragraphs whenever possible instead of ten rapid-fire strings of three-word sentences/commands. The latter is annoying, wasteful, and tends to make people hesitant to respond because they don’t know if you’re fucking finished yet.
3) Do not send an IM to ask “are u there?” or anything similar. Every IM client has an availability feature. Use it.
4) Keep in mind that IM is one tool of many and not an inherently efficient tool at that. Further, do not assume everyone (anyone) engages with IM using the same methodology you do – whatever that may be – and do not expect anyone to utilize that particular methodology because it’s what works best for you. (This includes archiving IM archives to grep through 6 months down the road.)
5) Think before you send an IM. Do not IM a request only to type ‘nvm’ twenty seconds later. (See Items 1 and 2 above).