IM

Have them meet you on your favorite messenger program. IMs provide a means of instant chat without waiting on someone to respond back to you.

Another threat to the use of IM is a phenomenon known as spimming. Spimming is to IM as spam is to e-mail. Some aggressive spimmers learned how to take over one IMer's contact list — threatening a company's entire IM system!

"When I first joined ACAC (Ames Cyclones Aquatics Club), we were swimming together in a lane and I ended up going behind her," Hala said. "We were doing IM (individual medley) in warm-up and I was on her feet and I was like I'm an IMer, can I go ahead of you? She told me no."