Remember I’m not really naked on the internet, but a lot of people are either literally or figuratively with the things they post, tweet, etc. and I want to reiterate:  they are SOCIAL media, not vent-like-a-fishwife-media, so why don’t more people get it? And what are the few rules of etiquette we should expect?

You may recall that I look at social media as a metaphoric cocktail party and the same etiquette used there applies to social networks and communicating through electronic media. The Emily Post Institute has written a few articles on on social media etiquette and I’d like to share a few guidelines….

TWITTER – Be relevant. I’ve said I don’t need to know what you’re having in your coffee three times a day, and The Emily Post institute agrees. They also noted to be careful linking Facebook and Twitter to avoid burning out your audience with too many tweets that your followers see in their Twitter feed and again on Facebook. (I need to check OUR settings!)

SOCIAL NETWORKS – Keep it respectful and clean. Let me repeat that….Keep it respectful and clean. Once again, if you don’t want others to see what you’ve posted…don’t post it. I call it living out loud. If you can’t live out loud, can’t post it on a board for everyone to see, don’t post it. You don’t have to accept every Tom, Dick or Harriet as a friend. And be careful if you’re accepting clients as friends or followers – the live life out loud has particular meaning to you. Your clients don’t need to see your family drama played out.

Although the Emily Post Institute didn’t touch on these, I have a few pet peeves that are covered under common etiquette rules:

PET PEEVES – Email: If I send you an email, let me know you got it. Whether the email contains information that needs to be discussed, or it’s an FYI email, let me know you got it. A simple “Thank you,” Got it,” or “OK,’ lets me know you received it and it hasn’t gone into the great email black hole. Otherwise, you’ll get the same email forwarded and asking if you received the first email.

PET PEEVES – Texts: Same as above. Again, this is like a cocktail party. Would you stand in front of your host, and after he has said something to you, staring blankly into his face with no response? A sent text with no response is the same thing. It’s rude and passive aggressive at best. If using the excuse that you didn’t see it, you need to be careful…particularly if I can see it delivered and you are dopey enough to have your “read” notification turned on.

I’d love to invite everybody using social media or electronic communications to the cocktail party. Mind your manners, be polite to the host, listen with an open mind, challenge positions with respect, keep your family business family business, keep your clothes on, no name calling, respond when spoken to, don’t hide behind the “I didn’t get your text, email, etc….” excuse, correct me if you think my manners are lacking. I’ll be at the cocktail party too, but you’ll only see me naked when I write.

Let us know some of YOUR pet peeves or how you think people need to improve their on-line/electronic social skills. If you missed the first article, you can find it by clicking on link below:

Naked On The Internet: The End of Etiquette?