What is an away message?
- An away message (also known as a status message in some IM clients) is a message that is put up to tell others that you are busy and not available to chat on IM and it lets them leave a message if they desire(similar to voice mail or answering machine).
How to put up an away message?
- For instructions on how to put up an away message, select the Instant Messaging (IM) client that you use from below:
This tutorial was made for AIM version 4.8, but should be compatible for other versions.
1. Sign onto Aim, and wait for the window
that looks like the one below to load up.
2. Click on "My AIM" in the top left corner.
3. Select "Away Message" from the drop down menu
4. Select "New Message..." from the drop down menu
5. A pop up window will now come up.
What is %n(their screen name) stand for in the messages?
- By entering %n into your away message when using the AIM/AOL IM client, the %n is replaced with the screenname of the person checking your away message. You should not leave the "(their screen name)" part in your away message, it is only a reference to tell you the signifigance of %n.