If I sent you a first time message on any social media platform that just says:

"Hi"

Would you find that interesting?

First of all, it's exhausting trying to have an online conversation with a connection who just sends a "hi".

Messaging "Hi" leaves the burden of communication on the recipient, even though you're the one who wanted to say something.

The truth is, many people maintain a busy lifestyle and don't want to deal with uninteresting matters. If you're going to just say "hi", that's not in anyway winning their attention.

Instead of just saying "hi/hello",

You could rather say:

"Hi/hello Oche. I hope you're having a great day. You have a great profile and I thought I'd reach out to you and talk about........

This example:
• shows that you care
• it communicates intent
• adds context
• respects people's time
• permits an interesting conversation
• reduces anxiety for the receiver


My point:
next time you start a conversation on the internet, try to write something more infomative than just "hi/hello".

What do you think?

Ps: if you're going to do something, you might as well just be intentional about it.