Are You Etiquette Savvy?

   I am no expert by any means about the social web. Things are always changing and boundaries are being broken everyday. I try to stay relevant with the times and follow all the big marketing, media and tech blogs like Mashable, Hubspot, Inkling Media, Chris Brogan and others along those same lines. I even went as far as to get my Inbound Marketing Certification through Hubspot so I could be more knowledgeable if I ever work for a company that needs help in their marketing or PR department. That being said, I have learned a pretty decent amount of how a person should portray themselves on the interweb(yes, I know it's an out dated term, but it is so fun to use). Let me pass along some of what I have learned.

1. Just Be Yourself
         This seems like an obvious thing to say, but you would be surprised as to how many people have a different persona online. I'm not saying if you want to start a cheesy quotes or funny pix of the day twitter page that you shouldn't. I have no problem with those. What I mean is that, if you start anything with your name on it, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or god forbid MySpace account, just be yourself. I say this for a few reasons: People you know personally can tell when you are being fake, you build better relationships when you are true to yourself and others are genuinely interested in getting to know the real you.

2. Be Positive
           No one likes a downer. I get so aggravated when I see post after post that is not positive. Negativity only creates more negativity. If you ever have something negative to say try to put a positive spin on it or make it funny. If you can't figure out how to do that, then maybe you just shouldn't put it out there in the first place. Which brings me to my next point.

3. Watch What You Post
           I know I told you to be yourself, but you have to be wary of the things you put online. There are somethings that should just not be public information. Those pictures of you at that party, yeah you know the ones I am talking about. Your tongue is hanging out, one hand is in the air and in the other hand you have an adult beverage. You may not have taken the pictures, but you can control, through untagging, if they are linked to you or not. Also, no one wants to know the status of your health after the bowel movement you just  had or how drunk you got last night. The reason I say this is because people you don't know have access to your online self and can see everything you do and every move you make. Potential job opportunities could be lost because of lewd pictures, comment flame wars and excessive cursing. Hey look, I lead right into my next point again!

4. Stop With The Excessive Cursing
            I honestly don't mind swear words. They are part of our everyday culture. We hear them in music and movies, as well as walking down the street eavesdropping on peoples conversations(I know I am not the only who does it). There is no way you can escape it unless you become a monk(or nun) and take a vow of silence whilst living in solitude. My point is, no matter what language you speak, there will always be curse words. That being said, I have no desire to read one status or tweet after another with 5 or 6 vulgar words strung together letting me know in a passive aggressive way how this hussy stole your man or that trick cut you off while your driving. It's all negativity and we already talked about that didn't we? I will let you go back and read that one again if you need to. Go ahead, I can wait.....done? Okay. People rarely mind if you curse every once in a while, but when it is the meat of what you say it will surely get you de-friended or unfollowed.

   These are 4 basic points. You can get so much more in depth with this subject, but I am running out of writing time and I drank too much coffee. Do you have anything you want to add? Do you think I got something wrong? Well I am never wrong, but you can try to change my mind. Feel free to let me and everyone else know down in the comments.