Digital Etiquette For Dummies
- Description
- Product Details
- About the Author
- Table of Contents
Conducting yourself online can be challenging. It sometimes seems like the web and social media is tailor-made to cause upset and anger. But, with the right guide, anyone can learn how to be a beacon of civility and politeness online. In Digital Etiquette For Dummies, a team of online communication experts share their combined insights into improving your presence on social media, writing emails that exude positivity and clarity, behaving correctly in virtual meetings, and much more. You'll become a paragon of politeness as you learn to apply the timeless rules of etiquette to the unique environment of the web, social media, email, Zoom, and smartphones.
In this book, you'll also:
- Learn near-universal etiquette rules for email, social media, cellphones, and more
- Discover ways to make sure that your polite attitude isn't being lost in the text-only context of a business email
- Avoid common social media pitfalls and digital faux pas that can trip up even the most careful communicators
A great handbook for anyone who uses digital communication in business or in their personal life (so, pretty much everyone), Digital Etiquette For Dummies also belongs on the reading lists of those trying to improve their online interactions on social media.
ISBN-13: 9781119869801
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Wiley
Publication Date: 04-26-2022
Pages: 352
Product Dimensions: 7.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Eric Butow has written 41 books and is coauthor of Instagram For Dummies and Instagram For Business For Dummies, 2nd Edition. Kendra Losee is a digital marketing consultant and professor of social media marketing. Kelly Noble Mirabella is a social media and chat marketing consultant and YouTube content creator.
Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 3 Part 1 Etiquette Guidelines 5 Chapter 1 Defining Etiquette in the Digital Age 7 Coming Up with Some Definitions 8 Netiquette 8 Etiquette versus online ethics 8 Seeing Which Situations Call for Etiquette 9 Social: Chatting with others 10 Meeting: Behaving appropriately in a small group setting 12 Corporate: Behaving professionally in the workplace 14 Business: Conducting yourself properly among colleagues 17 Eating: Shielding meeting participants from your eating habits 19 Telephone: Paying attention to the conversation and your behavior 20 Chapter 2 The Legal Ins and Outs of Etiquette 23 Laying Down the (Communication) Law 24 Looking at federal laws 24 Parsing the state laws 25 Setting Company Policies 29 Specifying your terms of service 29 Banning spam from your company toolset 31 Conducting your business online 34 Looking at specific industry regulations 35 Adhering to country and regional laws 37 Honoring Boundaries 41 Communicating with people during work hours 42 Communicating with employees in general 44 Communicating during off-hours 47 Centralizing Messages 48 Choosing the Best Medium for the Message 48 Identifying the message 49 Understanding your culture 49 Picking a delivery method 49 Chapter 3 Minding Your Online Manners at Any Age 51 Seeing How Etiquette Varies for Different Audiences 52 Adults: Being up front about behavior and modeling that behavior 52 Students: Interacting with classmates and being serious 54 Teachers: Presenting information to students 56 Kids: Being flexible for kid behavior 58 Common Rules for Everyone 59 Dress appropriately 60 Eliminate background noise, if possible 60 Be respectful 61 Part 2 Social Media Etiquette 65 Chapter 4 Learning the Language of Social Media 65 Defining Social Media Etiquette 66 Why you should care about social media etiquette 66 Recognizing bad social etiquette 67 Being mindful of your audience 67 Managing your online presence for different purposes 68 Posting publicly versus privately 69 Knowing the Culture of Each Platform Before You Become Involved 70 Understanding the etiquette of each platform 71 Applying etiquette to the specific social media platforms 73 Chapter 5 Sharing Your Thoughts in Posts and Comments 81 Looking at Followers versus Friends 82 Differentiating between social media as an individual concern and as a business 83 To friend or not to friend 83 Knowing when to unfriend, unfollow, or block 84 Posting as an Individual 85 Knowing when you're posting versus commenting 85 Determining who can see your posts and your comments 86 Knowing when to post on social media (and when to keep mum) 87 Commenting on someone else's posts 88 Recognizing the importance of tone 89 Creating meaningful discussions 90 Reserving judgment 91 Avoiding certain topics 91 Respecting the person's page you're commenting on 92 Giving credit when credit is due 92 Posting as a Business 93 Verifying content ownership 93 Promoting your business in a spam-free fashion 94 Refraining from posting if it doesn't align with your company's values 95 Being genuine as a company as well as a person 95 Going the extra mile 95 Chapter 6 Handling Negative Comments and Reviews 101 Understanding How Comments and Reviews Differ from each other 101 Defining negative comments and negative reviews 102 Recognizing the difference between comments and reviews 102 Reading between the lines: Tone versus intention 103 Don't become defensive when responding to criticism 104 Dealing with negative comments 105 Knowing when to delete comments 106 Knowing when to ignore comments 107 Letting your audience do the talking 107 Knowing when to respond 108 Responding to Negative Reviews 109 Developing a response strategy 109 Avoiding a bad review in the first place 112 Handling Positive Reviews 113 Chapter 7 Going Viral: The Good, the Bad, and the Unintended 115 The Consequences of Going Viral 115 Enjoying the good consequences 116 Tolerating the bad consequences of going viral 116 Managing the unintended consequences 117 Staying Sane When The Situation Goes Off the Rails 118 Knowing your options 118 Planning your actions 120 Havinga Plan in Place 121 Responding to positive feedback 122 Avoiding plagiarism 122 Managing a crisis 124 Knowing whom to trust to help out 127 Chapter 8 Group Decorum 129 What Exactly Is a Social Media Group? 129 Recognizing the importance of online groups 130 Categorizing online groups and communities 131 Being Respectful (and Respected) 132 Group posting etiquette 133 Commenting etiquette 134 The rules of the group 134 Avoiding Common Mistakes in Social Media Groups 135 Posting at the wrong times or to the wrong groups 135 Making false claims about yourself or others 135 Trolling and harassing in social media groups 136 Spamming 136 Being a Good Moderator 137 Assuming the role of the moderator 137 Growing your group 138 Setting expectations and rules 139 Handling issues in your group 139 Chapter 9 Being Likeable During Livestreaming 143 Whafs a Livestream, Anyway? 144 Going Live 145 What you need to know before going live 145 What you need to know while you're live 146 What you need to know after you've been live 147 Being a Gracious Host During a Livestream Interview 148 Set up your guests for success 149 Respect your guest's time 149 Make the visit worthwhile for your guest 150 Following the Guidelines for Being a Great Guest 151 Show up on time 152 Be prepared 152 Avoid the takeover 153 Avoiding Embarrassment 153 Adhering to the Etiquette of Watching a Livestream 154 Respect the broadcaster 154 Respect the other audience members 155 Benefiting from actively participating 156 Part 3 Email Courtesies 157 Chapter 10 Email Best Practices That Won't Let You Down 159 Emailing for Personal Use versus Emailing for Business Purposes 159 Keeping things personal 161 Emailing for business 162 Writing with a Clear Purpose 163 Picking the right communication tool 163 Context is everything 165 Chapter 11 Spam, the Law, and You 169 Reckoning with CAN-SPAM 170 Looking at Platform-Specific Terms of Service (ToS) 172 Establishing Business Policies 173 Drawing up an acceptable-use policy 173 Creating effective social media policies 173 Managing Your Public Relations 175 Devising a crisis plan 175 Owning up 176 Watching your communication 177 Following Industry Regulations 178 HIPAA and privacy 178 HIPAA and your employees 179 More Social Media Regulations to Know 180 California's Consumer Privacy Act 181 GDPR: Data protection and privacy in Europe 182 Canada's CAN-SPAM laws 185 Part 4 Virtual Meeting Manners 187 Chapter 12 The Basics of Virtual Meetings 189 Charting the Rise of Virtual Meetings 189 Choosing When to Use Virtual Meetings 191 Evaluating the benefits of virtual meetings 191 Determining the true purpose of virtual meetings 193 Designing More Productive Virtual Meetings 194 Choosing the right format for your virtual meeting 196 Taking advantage of technology 197 Looking at the Downside of Virtual Meetings 198 Avoiding Virtual Meeting Burnout 199 Chapter 13 Leading a Virtual Meeting 201 Doing the Prep Work 201 Answering the why, where, and when of leading virtual meetings 202 Knowing who needs to be there 204 Defining meeting expectations so that attendees know what to expect 205 Creating an agenda that works 207 Conducting the Meeting 208 Creating connections 209 Moderating the meeting 211 Wrapping up the meeting 212 Handling the Meeting Follow-Up 213 Chapter 14 Making an Appearance at a Virtual Meeting 215 Attending a Virtual Meeting 215 Knowing the company culture 216 Being prepared for different types of presenters 217 Participating in a virtual meeting (via phone, video, and chat) 218 Being prepared 221 Being on time 222 Understanding the purpose 222 Knowing the technology 223 Conducting Yourself in a Virtual Meeting 223 Presenting yourself 224 Knowing when to mute your audio 225 Knowing when to turn off your camera 225 Handling sidebar conversations 226 Sticking to the agenda 227 Respecting the time 227 Not taking over the conversation/meeting 228 Chapter 15 Webinar and Online Event Proprieties 229 Determining the Goals of Your Event 229 Knowing who your audience is and what's in it for them 230 Recognizing the difference between webinars and virtual events 231 Mastering the Do's and Don'ts for Hosting a Successful Webinar or Live Event 233 Knowing the technology 236 Respecting people's time 236 Presenting best practices 236 Preparing slides or resources ahead of time 237 Practicing so that you're prepared 237 Reading slides is for amateurs 238 The Etiquette of Engaging the Audience 239 The art of the Q&A session 239 Post-event tips 240 The Etiquette of Attending a Webinar or an Online Event 241 Not sharing your login/registration information 241 Asking questions in the chat box 242 Introducing yourself to others 242 Not hogging the conversation 243 Not spamming 243 Staying engaged with the content 243 Asking questions during Q&A time 244 Downloading any resources right away 244 Part 5 Mobile Mien 245 Chapter 16 Context in Messaging and SMS 247 Texting: The Better Way to Communicate 247 Putting Yourself in the Recipient's Shoes 250 Considering the Context 251 Noting the Importance of Tone When Texting 252 Being Brief but Clear 253 Avoiding Miscommunication with Others 255 Being More Mindful of What You're Typing 255 Chapter 17 No One Wants to Hear Your Phone 257 Following Etiquette When Using Your Phone in Public 257 Deciding when to pick up (and when to put down) your phone 258 Keeping the conversation going (and keeping your phone in your pocket) 259 Turning off notifications to avoid distractions 259 Realizing that the world doesn't need to see or hear your conversation 261 Keeping other phone uses in mind 262 Dealing with the Poor Etiquette of Others 263 Knowing When It's Time to Take a Break from Your Smartphone 265 Telecommuting and the Phone Etiquette That Comes Along with It 266 Chapter 18 When and How to Use Text Messaging SMS 269 One-to-One Text Messaging 269 Introducing yourself properly 270 Responding in a timely manner 271 To text or not to text 271 Using emojis and photos correctly 272 It's a Party in Your Phone 273 Knowing when to use group texting 273 Adding people to a group text 274 Replying to a group text 275 Avoiding SMS missteps 275 Not introducing yourself 276 Excessive use of emojis and pictures 276 Not keeping an eye on tone 276 Indulging in lengthy texts 277 SMS that should have been a call 278 Blowing up someone's phone 278 Not cleaning up your voice-to-text 279 Knowing What Not to Send in an SMS Text Message 280 Not sending unsolicited content 280 Keeping your messages spam-free 280 Chapter 19 Pleasant Direct Messaging 283 Exploring the Differences: Messaging App versus SMS 283 Comparing Messaging and Email 284 Knowing When to Use Messaging 285 Evaluating the More Popular Messaging Apps 287 Facebook Messenger 287 WhatsApp 288 Telegram 289 Slack 289 Following Best Practices for Personal Messaging 291 Respecting other people's time 291 Not treating messaging apps as though they're Google 292 Avoiding the overmessaging temptation 292 Including the context from the get-go 293 Keeping Messaging Professional 294 Staying professional at all times when using messaging apps 294 Skipping the unsolicited spam or sales pitches 295 Being sure to respond promptly 296 Checking messages throughout the day so that nothing slips through the cracks 296 Managing Group Messaging 297 Adding people to a group chat 298 Respecting the intention of the group 299 Respecting other people's time 299 Notification overload: Managing the noise 300 Knowing when to leave a group 300 Don't take offense if people leave 301 Part 6 The Part of Tens 303 Chapter 20 Ten Good Manners to Follow 305 Respecting Others 306 Watching Your Language 306 Using Humor and Sarcasm with Care 307 Giving Credit When Credit Is Due 307 Dotting Your I's and Crossing Your T's 307 Being a Proper Emailer 308 Keeping Other People's Private Information Private 308 Keeping Your Facts Straight 309 Refraining from Oversharing 310 Knowing That to Err Is Human, and to Forgive, Divine 311 Chapter 21 Ten Bad Behaviors to Avoid 313 Capping Everything 314 Leaving Your Mistakes for All to See 314 Putting Yourself at the Center of Everything 314 Being Inappropriate No Matter the Occasion 315 Being Argumentative 316 Invading Others' Privacy 316 Being a Spammer 317 Leaving Others in the Lurch 318 Talking as Loudly as Possible on Your Cellphone 318 Texting While Talking with Others (The Wrong Kind of Multitasking) 319 Index 321Table of Contents