What You Need To Know About Social Networking Etiquette

Just how many times have you logged on to the internet to find an obnoxious friend request from a complete stranger? Or just how many times have you been pestered to join vampire or food fights on Facebook via emails, notifications and messages? Does this all sound similar? Or worse still, are you one of those who keep sending these pestering messages to almost every one in your inbox?

Social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Diggit, Facebook or Orkut are being used by a large number of people all over the net, which is a good thing. But the flip side is that in the wake of advancing technology and being able to remain connected all the time, people tend to breach into the other’s private space and time. Seriously, how does it matter if someone is not willing to add you up in their friends list? Or is not as interested in accepting an invitation of being tickled online?

Pointers to keep in mind

There is a certain social etiquette one ought to follow, even online. Trying to socialize online can mean quite the same as in real life. Hence, it only makes sense if one tries to follow a certain sense of decorum online.

Some of these include:

· In case one is looking for new friends, sending friend requests to random strangers without properly introducing oneself is not such a great idea.

· Keep chatting consistently about something without having any regard for others interests.

· Repeatedly asking for favors online from distant friends whom you otherwise barely talk to.

· Introducing yourself to the other person using the name of some professional company or random, unrealistic first names.

Similarly, online social etiquette also varies depending upon the type of social networking platform one is using. As in Facebook, one should not post private messages on wall posts for the world to see or copy content from other authors on a blog space and use it as one’s own without accrediting the concerned person properly. It is as important to be polite in online world as in real life. Nobody would care to reply back to a rude post.

Ban the intruders

While trying to socialize online, it is not uncommon to chance upon total weirdos. They do exist and chances are they will bother you too, at some point of time or other. The key is to ignore them quietly but firmly. While dealing with online social networking sites, it makes sense to protect one’s own account and the information contained in it. Almost every site allows their users to restrict access to their concerned profiles, in order to prevent misuse of that information.

And last but not the least, when communicating via emails, it is important and polite to reply to an email which demands immediate response. Keeping the other person waiting is not a very good sign of social etiquette and will only go on to show how poorly capable the person is of displaying some online social decency.