August 18th, 2010

Didn’t Your Parents Teach You Proper Netiquette?

Good manners just aren’t appreciated today like they used to be. I’m not just talking about your please’s and thank you’s – I’m talking about netiquette. The idea of etiquette rules for the internet has been around for well over a decade, but with new social media outlets and communication platforms emerging constantly, the rules are changing every day.

Some tried-and-true examples of proper netiquette include respecting privacy, not sending out spam, and not CYBER-YELLING BY TYPING IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS! While those scenarios are still relevant, there are many new situations that will require an all new set of rules. Here’s my take on how to handle some sticky online situations with proper netiquette.

The “un-friend”

After a long day you settle down at your computer to cyber-stalk your old classmates on Facebook. You navigate to the profile of that guy you had a crush on in high school, and suddenly, you are denied access to his page. You have just been un-friended. Before you go on a rant about how you can’t believe he deleted you, consider a few factors:

  1. When was the last time you communicated? Do you ever actually write on each other’s walls? Comment on pictures? Meet up on weekends? If you haven’t seen each other in years and your only Facebook interaction is stalking, un-friending is acceptable.
  2. Are you an annoying Facebooker? Do you constantly update your statuses with trivial information or post to others’ walls incessantly? If you’re really clogging up everyone’s news feeds, expect more than one dose of un-friending to come your way.

If these factors don’t fit your situation, then your ex-friend is either cleaning up his account, mad at you or just doesn’t care about reading your life updates. Ask him what’s up.

This is the 3rd time you’ve friend requested me, Grandma.

It seems everyone is on Facebook these days – young, old, male, female, conservative, wild. This situation is inevitable these days: You see the little red symbol alerting you to a new friend request and your heart races as you wonder who it could be from. Then your heart sinks when you click and your Grandma (or father, or cousin, etc.)  appears.  You may not want Grandma seeing those scandalous photos from Saturday night or asking you about all those friends writing on your wall, but you can’t deny Grandma! The solution: only let them see your limited profile. Hide the party pics and wall posts from your new boyfriend or girlfriend, but let Grandma see your smiling face and feel like she’s a part of your online life, too.

Follow me and I’ll follow you?

Unlike some other social media platforms like Facebook, following someone on Twitter is not a mutual agreement. Like the above situation with Grandma, the excitement grows when you see that ‘New Follower Request’ has popped up on your Twitter page. Then you open it, and find yourself faced with a casual friend or co-worker… who incessantly posts pointless, uninteresting, or even annoying tweets. Sure, I’ll accept their follower request, but am I therefore obligated to follow them back? This one is tricky. If it’s someone you know personally and see on a regular basis, they may notice that you declined to follow back, and things could get a little awkward. But if your follower isn’t really a friend, or already follows/is followed by hundreds of other Twitter users, don’t bother.

Navigating through our crazy internet world can put you in some awkward situations from time to time. But with knowledge of netiquette on your side, you can cruise through the social media world without causing too many offences.

Communications