MSN Chat

[SocialMe]

I'm just trying to decide on how much of our chat transcripts to include... I'm not going to include all... I have 500 pages for the first 2 months!!

Those that had chat transcripts, how much did you include?

I'm debating between, one conversation a month (about 15 pages for one day) or one page for every day. Which is better??

 

[Deficient]

I included one sample page per month. I don't know if that will be enough yet and I won't know for a few months, but just throwing in my own $0.02 on the matter.

I made a point of trying to select sections of the chats where the sampled conversation indicates that we chat regularly, e.g. where we're remarking that the other is online earlier or later than usual, or general mundane commentary about how our day went (the logic being that people don't usually give an update of that single day's events only if it has been several days since they last spoke). The purpose of those transcripts was to serve as evidence that we talk daily as stated in the form.

I also went for the types of chats that backed up our plans to visit each other or be together in general, or showed us being emotionally interdependent.

Who knows what the magic number is...

 

[tsjunx]

I didn't include all of it, it seemed excessive, we had over 3000 pages of skype logs and the same amount of emails. I included screen shots of emails and chats and selected a few emails where we talk about our future, our savings, the day I passed my exams, and I made a note to say that the entire log was available if they wanted it...

 

[Fencesitter]

Chats and e-mails are good to include, but if you live together, I'm guessing this kind of evidence is less important. We included some samples of chats we had when we were both working and would communicate via chat during the work day. Other than that, we didn't include any other types of communication because we have lived together since 2006. We included samples of cards exchanged between us as well as cards from my family in Canada. We made sure to include our current rental contract showing the dates and signatures of both parties (my wife and I and our landlord). Since we have lived together for so many years, we felt that pictures were more important.

Just remember that the quality of evidence is more important than the quantity. Also, the type of evidence you submit depends on your situation.

Don't bother sending ALL communication...select samples...if they want more proof later on, you can provide it, but if you have submitted quality samples (over time), the chances of the VO requesting additional proof is small.

Good luck!

FS

 

[Morlon]

theres nothing like too much evidence, just shows how much more u want it.

 

[Fencesitter]

That would depend on the quality of the evidence. It also depends on other factors as I mentioned above. Quality over quantity is best.

FS

 

[mobeyk]

We did send 3/4 of our chats for 1.5 years but 4 pages printed to a sheet of paper. It was over 300 pages. We felt it is important to show our every day conversation, being aware they will not read all. It depends on other evidence too. We had no phone bills as all our communication is over chat and video chat, so it is the main pillar of communication, that is why we supplied so much of it. You can reduce it if there is more other evidence of communicating like phone bills, emails, snail mail. It would be better to give them at least 3-4 days each month, so they see the continuous record. I feel 1 or two days per month is a bit on the light side and cannot proof a continuous communication via chat. Screenshots showing the chat window is a great thing to show evidence. We included chat with family and friends too to show that others are in communication too. It shows that others know about the relationship and that the relationship is based on sharing friends and family conversations too. I included printouts of photos on facebook and the comments from friends as additional nugget, but I get off topic, now. Hehe

 

[Marty11]

I included a snapshot of all the logs from both Yahoo Messenger and QQ International, where it shows how many times we talked. At least on Yahoo it shows the total number of logs for that person. I do not know about MSN. Then I included 2-3 transcripts for every month since our relationship began, meaning 2-3 days for each month. Those 2-3 were selected based on the depth of the discussion. I did not include at all all the easy parts, only relevant parts in the evolution of the relationship, like for example when we decided to get married, discussions about knowing our families, about planning the wedding party and the trip after, discussions when one of us was down and the talk through and so on. When I copied on word documents, I reduced the space between lines to minimum, so that you can print a minimum number of pages. And print on both sides.
Like FS, said, it has to show quality, not necessarily quantity. The VO officer will not read through all, they do not have the necessary time to do that, but the transcripts have to show the depth of cummunication and how often, that your lives are tangled together and that you depend on each other for support.
Hope this helps.