These are your ‘status’ options – quick descriptions of your current state that others see while you’re logged into Yahoo! Messenger – and yes, you can write your own. Are you On the Phone? Busy? What’s your deal? Good old Available signals to others that it’s OK to send you messages. Invisible makes it look like you’re not there – shhh! – which gives you exclusive control to IM at your own discretion.

To make a change, click the down-arrow beside the status and click your choice:

• Available
• Busy
• Stepped Out
• Be Right Back
• Not at My Desk
• On the Phone
• Invisible
• Custom Message… (see below)

Write your own

Here’s how:

Custom Message... lurks at the bottom of the pull-down menu. Click that, and see how it says “Type your message” now, in the status window? Type whatever you’d like. Not lots of space, so be crisp! (People sometimes use their status to say things like ‘Go Sharks!’ or ‘Happy Birthday Wendy!’)

When you complete the message, click one of the two versions below it to designate it either as an Available status option or a Busy status option (Busy is the latter choice, with the red busy icon next to it). Look – you did it your way!