i have a question. Let's say that your whole family uses the same

screen name and one night one of your parents goes online and one of

your friends sends an IM (thinking it's you online) and says something

simple like "goodnight and have a good week" do you think your parent

would answer and say that it's not you? also let's say that your parent

did NOT respond and then the person says something sarcastic like

"(your name) don't answer me so quickly" do you think that at that

point your parent would answer or just ignore the person thinking that

it's non of their business or that they don't have the time to deal with

it? your responses would be appreciated, thanks.

my parents aren't good with the computer so i don't think they'd know how to answer.

[Tony T]

You should always tell your friends that your whole family, including your parents, uses the same screen name. But they will usually forget and think it's you online.

Whatever a member of your family gets an instant message meant for you, they should write back and say it is not you. If they do not respond and the friend sends a sarcastic message, they should reasonably understand that this is a friend and the message is not meant to be mean or insulting to them. They should not take it personally or as an indication that the friend is rude. Friends will often say things to each other in a sarcastic way, just as a joke.

If everyone is going to have the same screen name, these kinds of things should have already been resolved. In any case, you are NEVER responsible for the content of any message sent to you. That is the fault of the people who send them and others who are on the computer should NEVER blame you for that.

It would be very nice if your parents or others would respond in some way. I have had the same situation happen to me when I send an IM to friends...where other people were using their computer. Half the time someone responded and half the time they didn't. This is a fairly new thing for people and some just don't really know what to do.

In an ideal world there would be peace, love, total prosperity and parents would respond to others messages with kindness and understanding. So tell me, what kind of world is it???

thanks for responding,but, i'm sorry, i guess i should have said that i'm the one who sent the im and got no response, i know that this guy's whole family uses the same screen name, but i was wondering if maybe he is just avoiding me because most of the time it really is him online, but then i thought maybe it was his mom or something but then i thought that she would have responded, so could you please give me your opinion on this.

[Tony T]

When you IM someone and get no response, send an Email directly to them and let them know you sent an Instant Message to them and assumed it was not them. But ask them, in the event it was them online, is there any reason why they ignored you.

If everything in your relationship with this person is going OK, I wouldn't take it personally. Sometimes I leave my computer on and go away to watch TV. People start IMing me and I'm in the other room and never answer them. There are so many things that could happen.

Don't be so sensitive and rush to judgements about this.

the thing is, i don't know if everything is okay. usually when he does answer my im's he responds fairly quickly, but then there are times when there is no response at all and i don't know if it's him online or someone else. so that's why i'm asking, do you think a teenager's parent would answer an im that was sent to that person?

[Tony T]

As I told you before, everybody's different. Some will answer and some won't. Stop worrying and enjoy your day!!!