No creeps have come on to me on Twitter DM in years, but men on Instagram are OUT OF CONTROL. Wow. They can just look at pics & not have to read women's words over there, huh?

A GIF gallery of "Hi." messages on Instagram:

"Hi."

"Hello there."

"Hi beautiful."

"well hello victoria"

Years ago, a guy on Twitter got mad when I said it's supremely creepy to start an online convo with "hi." He said I was being mean.
"Really? Would you stop in front of a woman on the street, say "Hi", then just stand there, OR WOULD THAT BE CREEPY?"
He shut up.

Starting a conversation is something like "I loved that movie too!" It's an interaction. Saying "hi" is trying to force attention & response from someone while giving no idea of context or boundary & it's a neon red flag. Block.

(it's also sending out Private Messages to 1000 women a day, of course. Fingers crossed, creeps!)