We hope you have had some time to start diving into this month’s eBook, Social Media Etiquette – Minding Your Manners on the Social Web.

We started off by sharing that not much has changed in terms of etiquette since we were young. Think back to preschool and the list of classroom rules. Do you remember reciting them? Sitting in the corner thinking about how you didn’t understand one of them? Or diligently following them and policing the students who didn’t? Let’s take a quick look into how they continue to apply to our social lives.

We listen to each other.

As we’ve said over, and over, and over, listening is such an important part of social media. In terms of etiquette, it’s among the most important. Listening means we will learn about our audience. We will learn how they interact and who they interact with. Spending time listening to those you follow and taking in interest in what they are sharing will help to build relationships. Constantly ‘talking’ means potentially coming off as self centered. The purpose of listening to each other as a preschool rule is to ensure that we allow everyone their turn to speak and so that we can work out our issues with each other by taking the time to listen to the other student’s problem. The same is true in social media, it’s important to include a comments section on our blogs for example, as this let’s people know that we are willing to listen as well as speak. We should also listen to those who have opinions different from our own so that we can learn from them and help each other to grow.

Hands are for helping not hurting.

So while you may think that this rule would apply only in face to face situations, pause and think for a minute about how powerful a weapon your hands can be when it comes to the social web. For most of us, our hands are the tools we use to communicate with the online world. When we hit that send button, if we’re not careful, we can inadvertently hurt someone. When it comes to proper etiquette we should always be thinking of ways we can help and treat others with kindness. As blogger Mitch Joel put it in this post, “The act of being kind to consumers is being forced upon companies, and we should all look to adopt it – not because our consumers are demanding it, but because it’s the right thing to do.” Helping others is just the right thing to do. The social web is all about building communities and in communities we build each other up and help others when they are in need. Answering a question you know the answer to, sharing great information or providing positive feedback are all ways to show proper etiquette on the web.

We use ‘I care’ language.

The language we use is so important. It can completely affect how we come across online. Have you thought lately about the tone of your tweets or the politeness of your posts? When we say “I Care” language we are talking about positive language that lets the person we are interacting with know that we care. It means using language that is supportive and not destructive. Maybe we don’t always have something positive to say, but keeping the tone of our negativity in check can help us stick to proper etiquette. We have the choice to provide feedback that is meant to bring down the person it is directed to or to do it in a constructive way. Whenever possible we should be thinking about how to provide negative feedback in a way that it can help the other person and show them that we care. If we want to follow proper etiquette we need to remember this preschool rule.

We are responsible for what we say and do.

This ties back to the etiquette tip above. It’s  important and relates to the permanency of what we put out on the social web. Think about the implications of everything you say and do. Could you be saying something about a potential client, employer, friend? Are you being constructive with your criticism? When something is out in the social web it’s just about impossible to take back. All it takes is a quick screenshot, retweet or repost to keep it on the internet forever. We are responsible for everything we put out in the social web and we have to be conscious of this fact. In preschool this rule is used to help avoid the “He made me do it!” argument, same rings true on the social web. Don’t argue provocation, inebriation or misinformation as excuses for poor etiquette online. Take ownership always and don’t let others interfere with what you know to be proper etiquette.

These are just a few things that preschool has taught us about proper etiquette online. Are there others you can think of? What did you learn when you were young that has helped you in you social interactions today? Looking forward to all your thoughts!

Tags: EBook, Social Etiquette, Social Media