I checked my Pixelfed messages today and see this. I’ve literally no idea what the first half means, so I asked my daughter to translate the acronyms. No idea what “no disrespect” is conveying.
I never really thought of pixelfed as a place for spam or scammers. If the intent is genuine, then I’m even more perplexed by how they are choosing communicating. I’m not going to respond because it feels off, so yeah…
Perhaps I’m just showing my age?
why not ask the question immediately, I don’t get this
This is engagement bait. It’s spam.
Exactly my thought. Never heard the term “engagement bait”, but it smells right. 🙂
https://nohello.net/
deleted by creator
That’d be a little rude, no? Gotta see if the person has time to talk first.
To be frank with you, it’s the opposite. Asking to ask means that now I have to wait to actually get your question, which is kind of annoying. It’s not egregious or anything, but I’m not keen on it, nor are others [1] [2] [3].
This is one of those “varies by culture” things, I think. Asking to ask doesn’t create an obligation, asking the first time does. If it’s from a superior to a subordinate, that’s fine. Same if it’s from a student to teacher or any other relationship where “I am here to help you” is implicit. But between equals it’s different, mostly because it implies that they’re not equal, that the asker is in a position to create tasks for the other person.
I appreciate the response and perspective. For me, the obligation begins the instant I am made aware someone wants something, irrespective of if they actually ask it. Even if I end up turning it down, I still have to be polite and get the question first, explain why, and potentially who might be able to help if I have any leads. If I were to side step all of that and say “no, do not ask me a question” upon being asked to ask, that would be seen as very rude, and I would feel rude for doing it too.
Those are pretty amusing links. 😁
I’m curious about your response.
Since text messages can be answered any time, at any speed, I can’t imagine why it would be rude to just ask or how time availability would be an issue. Do you find yourself similarly texting and asking if people can text (immediately)?
Just feels like phishing… with the weirdest phishing message I’ve ever read as bait.
Asking someone if they have time to talk, no response is the same as a “no”.
Asking someone “Hey I wanna go to this concert on Friday, should I buy two tix and we’ll go together?” means you need an immediate response or you’re either going to miss the concert or piss off your friend.
The purpose of being polite is to reduce social frictions.
Here’s what would piss me of the most:
“Hey, I got a question. Do you have time to talk?”
Me not knowing what this is about or how long it would take to answer this mysterious question of yours: “not right now, gonna text you in the evening”
Me (later): “So what was your question?”
“I wanted to go to that concert on Friday. But now all of the tickets are gone and I’m going alone, lmao”
I HAD enough time to answer a simple yes/no question. I hate it when people ask if I have time to text. At least give me a fucking hint like “hey I got a short question: its about the concert on Friday”. Asking if one has time to text causes the most social friction IMO but the least visible friction (to you).
In that situation, when you asked her later, your friend should’ve said “Oh don’t worry about it, I was able to resolve it without you, but thanks for checking in,” and then changed the subject.
So if they don’t respond to your “do you have time to talk” initial message, then you just don’t invite them to the concert at all and never tell them about it?
All to avoid just asking them up-front whether they want to go or not?
That’s wild, I genuinely don’t understand how this is better in any way.
Imo if the question is urgent, either call them or add something to the text like “tickets are going quick and I’m going to buy them ASAP, so if I don’t hear back by <insert time>, I’ll assume you’re out”
Yep, that’s right.
This is where I have to correct you. Not asking them straight out, and not mentioning it later if they don’t respond, are both is service of avoiding putting pressure on them.
The jnteresting thing about politeness is how it varies between cultures and persons. Things really can very widely.
I personally can’t imagine emailing someone only to ask “may I ask you a question” rather than asking the question itself, but I suppose that might be more polite with some folks?
In the case of this original message, I literally have no idea what half of it meant. English isn’t my first language, but I think I’ve got it pretty down. This was a whole new (generational?) level. 😅