Best Away Messages

You are available, you are busy, you are idle, you are away. Available, busy, idle, away... these words don't seem to be quite connected, except for the fact that they appear in the first half of the dictionary. Well, the other instance of their coming together is in instant messaging. Log in to any of your instant messenger accounts and you will realize, these words are just so important; they are states of your being there, the states in which you exist on the messenger.

You are open to conversation - you are available; you are very much there, not open to discussion - you are busy; you are passive - either because you have left your machine or even when you are just sitting before it = you are idle; you are actually away from your machine, either because you have chosen to or because circumstances have compelled you to - you are away. And now you need a good way of conveying that to your online buddies. You need to tell them you are away (possibly, with one of the best away messages you can think of) and give them an assurance of your return and that too, while they are still available, or they might just get busy with other things, go away in search of other friends or sit idle awaiting your return.

Why and How
In the time you have left the messenger and till the time you make a comeback, your online buddies need to be kept engaged, entertained. You might ask me why, but there's no specific answer to it. It's just that your online friends have the right to know what you are doing when you are away and it's your responsibility to inform them the same. You can say something as simple as brb, that is, be right back, something funny like I've lost my mind, need to go to find it, something stupid like Fools leave away messages; I guess I'm one or something satirical like Who reads away messages anyway!

Away Messages Needn't Make Sense
You can say just anything; it doesn't even have to make sense every time. The main aim of away messages is to tell your online contacts that you are away. But you can add humor to them and let your online buddies have fun. Imagine being in their chair and you will realize how frustrating it is to keep buzzing someone and receiving no response; how frustrating it is to see someone go away and not know the reason behind it. How annoying it is to not know something that you would have known if only... if only the person on the other side would have kept you posted through an away message. Maybe, something witty like Hey what's up? Answer that when I am NOT away, or Hey, guess where I am NOT?

Say You are Away
Those who inform the whole world about all the little things in their lives through status messages, especially through cool facebook status messages as they call it, will agree with the idea of away messages as well. I mean, if you can tell the world where you are and what you are doing, how can you not tell those on your friends' list about why you are away? Now, come on, they are your online pals, the ones you spend hours, chatting with. And they are righteous to receive, if not an explanation, an intimation at least, about your being away.

And that's best done through away messages. What are away status messages meant for? Well, they serve the purpose of status messages when you are 'away' and unavailable for chat on an instant messenger. They are the means to convey to your online contacts that you are away. Do not confuse them with idle messages which are sent as an automated response by the messenger itself, when it senses no activity on the messenger for a certain period of time and takes the efforts to declare your idle status to your online buddies. Also do not confuse away messages with your cool and funny facebook status messages that say how you are and what you are doing. Away messages are meant to tell your contacts that you are away and there are interesting ways of doing that. Now interesting can mean, funny, witty, silly, creative, whatever 'interesting' means to you. Just make sure it turns out to be one of the best away messages ever put up or read!

Away on another 'Screen'
If you go through away messages on AIM, Yahoo or any other messaging application, you will notice that one common reason people give for being 'away' is that something more interesting is happening on their computer screen or television. Here is a small set of some good away messages that belong to the category of reasons, rather 'excuses'.

• I am not available because I am playing a computer game that takes up all my free time and leaves no room for social interaction.
• I am not available because I am playing a computer game that takes up a good portion of the screen. In fact, just enough to obscure your IM.

For many, this is hard to believe, some morons blindly do, some laugh at you while others appreciate your sense of humor. So decide whether to leave any of these as your away message, depending on the kind of people on your contacts' list.

• The TV is watching me and showing such interest in me that I can't afford to do anything else.
• The woman on TV has asked me to stay tuned; I can't talk to you.
• Spending some quality time with my TV.
• My computer is running out of memory and asking for more. We can't talk till I make the necessary arrangements.

Now, this is indeed silly. But where else can you get to act so silly, Internet is the best place to do that; be it chatting or social networking. You could use any of these funny facebook status examples as your away messages; just that you would need to append to them, something that conveys your away status.

Away Studying
You could give an excuse of studying, by means of a plain or funny away message. Leave a witty away message like They call it a learning curve, I call it going circles. I'm studying. or something like Notice the DYING in studying...I'm doing just that. You could either plainly state that you want to study or that you need to, and that you would be away for some time. Or introduce humor or satire in it. With the former, you'll be at the risk of sounding boring... imagine saying that you have such and such amount of homework or that it's your study hour or that you need to study as your exams are near. It's stupid to assume that everyone on your messenger list would be interested in your academic progress. So instead of boring your audience by talking about your homework or assignments, try something thought-provoking...

Best Away Messages about Life
You could say something like Going away, coming back, being part, staying apart are all a part of life. or something like If you can't solve it, it's not a problem; it's reality. You could use any of the wise quotes about life and living; maybe something like "Don't regret growing old; it's a privilege denied to many" or something inspiring like this quote by Alison Boulter - Always remember you are unique just like everyone else. Or say something philosophical yet funny, something like Life is so short, there are so many things to do... I'm away doing one of them..

Picture Away Messages
Creativity can be part of any work you do. There's nothing like creative work and uncreative work; they say, just any work can be done with creativity. So why not make away messages creative and interesting? Word them or draw them, make them the best away messages! Yes, 'draw'; here are some picture away messages to choose from.

oooO
  ( )
    \ ( Oooo
    \_) ( )
         ) /
        (_/
Walking away

-----------*^*^*^*----------I've sent you a friendship band, tie it around your wrist, I'll be back.

¸...¸ __/ \/\____
,·´º o `·,/__/ _/\_ //____/\
```)¨(´´´ | | | | | | | || |l±±±±,,,,
,.-·²°´ ¸,.-·~·~·-.,¸.´
Somewhere around my house

             (_ )
          (_ O _) ( _)
             ( _) (_ O _)
              (_ O _) Trying to send you flowers...
                  (_)
These were a few cute away messages you could use. But there can be many more; it depends on the ideas you can come up with. Use round brackets to draw faces, punctuation marks to depict expressions, '/' and '\' to draw hands and legs and symbols like $, @ or an * to add design. And you might be able to come up with something very different, something original - a personalized depiction of what you wish to say while you are away.

Funny, cute, creative or philosophical; whichever flavor you choose for your going away messages, try to make it different from the rest; try to make it your own, something that people might be tempted to copy but won't be able to.

P.S: I assume, you have read between the lines and found some of the best away messages in here. I had thought of a good away message to write at the end of this article, but now I don't remember what it was!! Stay connected.