Newbie Guide to Survivor! (Questions + Tips Encouraged)

[Crazy]

I have some questions, maybe some other people have the same ones:

1. Is it very common at all to decline an alliance offer? I was under the impression that nearly all alliance offers were accepted. (perhaps falsely)
2. About how long is an average PM, in general?
3. Do players mostly communicate "live," shooting PMs back and forth over minutes, or is it possible to communicate well if you send a good reply maybe a couple hours after you receive a PM?
4. When is the right time to offer an alliance, and when is it too early?
5. In the middle/later stages of the game, how do you talk to someone you're not aligned with, without the conversation feeling really stiff and awkward? Do you talk about the game only in non-specific ways, or do you restrict the conversation to only non-game topics?