Am I the new Emily Post?
It's more like Nancy's Posts. I just realized that I've already written three posts about social media manners -- Why Can't We Be Friends?, e-tiquette, and My Mother Invented Twitter (which I posted back in 2007, which is practically like dinosaur times in social media years).
Ironically, Anna Post (Emily Post's great-granddaughter) does have opinions about Facebook behavior, but the official rulebook of online manners is still evolving, as boomers and marketers are discovering (and abusing) social media tools.
Good manners are always important. But bad manners in the social media world just seem to be so obvious...because they are so public! And my generation is also at something of a loss as to what really constitutes good manners in the social media world. After all, the media was invented by college students. And most of them probably never heard of Emily Post.
Because the beauty of citizen journalism is that anyone can instantly become a "guru" of anything, I'm going to share my own views of social media behavior for boomers and Gen-Y. And, because social media is collaborative, feel free to add your "rules" to mine. (And, if I disagree, I can just de-friend you! :))
Nancy's Rules of Social Media Etiquette
- Please do not use my Facebook page as if it were a highway billboard. If you ask me nicely to promote your cause, I will probably do it.
- Please do not friend all my friends willy nilly.
- Please do not feel compelled to tweet just because you are bored and because Twitter happens to be there. Very few people REALLY want to know the answer to the question, "What are you doing now?" I do, however, appreciate witty tweeting during reality TV, awards shows, political events, and conferences.
- Please share photos, but feel free to edit them down. I'd love to see your new dog or old grandma...just not 100 times.
- Please direct message if you just want to talk to ME. Please give credit (RT) if sharing someone else's wisdom. (I know...we boomers have to learn all this new stuff...but it's really not very difficult, and good manners are always appreciated!)
- Please learn to use privacy controls for your private stuff. (This one is directed mainly at Gen-Y folks who are job hunting.)
- Above all, please don't forget how to use the phone, notecards and eye contact. Some communications transcend the text and tweet!
P.S. I am working very hard at not checking my Blackberry messages while I'm having real-life conversations. I know it's rude, but once I developed the habit, it became hard to break. Perhaps I just need to tape my thumbs to my pointer fingers.
Well done, Nancy! My two-cents: understand the cultural nuances of social media outlets... Facebook for fun, but keep your clothes on; Twitter for touching base and giving the gist; LinkedIn is all business, so think twice about letting your hair down. Words to live by: Be yourself, just not too much!
Posted by: Lisa Kaslyn | April 13, 2009 at 07:11 PM