The concept of digital etiquette appeared more than 20 years ago and means rules of conduct in the digital environment that are approved by society.
If we want to ask a person or make an appointment, it is advisable to first write to her in the messenger. It’s been a bad tone lately to call right away. It is better to find out in advance whether it will be convenient for her to talk and when. An expert in intercultural communication and modern etiquette, explained how to behave in digital communication.
How to start communication
It is important to remember that your first message may be the only one. If the interlocutor does not like it, he can block you, move you to spam. Therefore, you need to tell everything so that the person can decide whether he wants to communicate with you. Accordingly, the first message cannot contain a single word “hello”. In order for a person to understand whether he wants to communicate with you, you need to introduce yourself, tell who you are and why you are writing to him. It is desirable to immediately state the essence of your request, proposal.
Use smilies and emojis in correspondence
It’s important to remember who you’re texting. Bright smilies and funny gifs of cartoon characters are best left for conversations with family and friends. It should be understood that even in communication with friends it is better to use only those emoticons that are interpreted unambiguously. It is unclear what a smiley face means with folded hands: gratitude or request. A foreigner will not understand that the right parenthesis is a smile, because smileys in the form of parentheses are used only in our country.
Send screenshots in private correspondence
Taking screenshots of private correspondence with friends and sending them to other people is the height of rudeness and showing disrespect. I strongly do not recommend doing this.
Send audio and video messages
One of the features of digital etiquette is to always think about whether it will be convenient for a person to listen to a message right now. So don’t be offended if your audio messages aren’t heard right away or even in the evening when you have the opportunity to be alone. Remember that in etiquette we are always guided by one rule: how appropriate will it be? Wouldn’t your message embarrass someone? And do not forget about others, whom you can interfere with your voice, writing messages in a cafe or in transport.
Add friends to group chats
It is a very gross violation of digital etiquette to add a person to various interest groups in Viber or Telegram without her knowledge. In this case, all participants can see a person’s private phone number. Remember that not everyone is ready to share private information with strangers.
Banal gifs as birthday greetings
Such greetings have always been considered a sign of bad manners. It is important to remember that greetings (even in words) are not only a sign of attention and respect for the person, but also a manifestation of the nature of the relationship. You don’t want to spend two minutes writing a few nice words of congratulations to your colleague – it’s a demonstration of your attitude towards her. No matter how bright and funny a greeting shimmering gif is, it will not carry any semantic load without a personal appeal to your colleague.
Phone sound in public places
If we talk about modern etiquette, it has recently become customary to turn off the sound of the phone in public places – otherwise it can disturb someone. And even the sound of the keys on your phone can annoy the person sitting next to you.
Where to put your phone when you are in public places
If you are invited to a cafe, it is not customary to put a mobile phone on the table. First, it is unhygienic. Secondly, it gives you the impression of a restless person who depends on his gadget. Moreover, at a meeting in a cafe flipping through the Instagram feed under the table and swearing at the photo is a bad tone. Remember, you’re telling your girlfriend, “I’m not interested in talking to you. I have a more important thing on the phone. “
Abbreviations of words in messengers
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in correspondence it is impossible to reduce the words of courtesy and so on. They exist to show the interlocutor our positive attitude, gratitude, apology. When you use such abbreviations, it is as if you are saving on a positive attitude, and this, of course, does not cause pleasant emotions.
It is important to always remember that modern norms and rules of conduct create an atmosphere of general respect, and if you follow them, you thereby demonstrate your politeness and attitude to others. Be polite and tactful even in online communication!
