Dear Reader! It's been a minute. Well... more like a few months. How have you been? Digitally Well I hope...

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For the purpose of today's newsletter, I’ll define Social Media Etiquette as the set of behaviors practiced within social networking sites (Facebook, Yelp, YouTube, and so on) that promote and protect the mental health and well-being of other users of such platforms. They are the guidelines that keep us ethically in check. These guidelines are divided into two sections: how to behave on social media and how not to behave.

Social media etiquette is really about “carriage”. This is significant because people respond/react to us according to how they perceive us. If, for example, your tone comes across as aggressive, it will be difficult to form genuine and meaningful connections (unless you are looking for other aggressive people). In the same vein, if your tone appears friendly, it will be difficult for people to reject you.

Let's assume you are an employer looking for new employees. Would you hire someone whose feed is filled with insults and no constructive criticism? As an employer, it goes without saying that you want to know that the person you're bringing in can contribute to the solution and isn't just the office "rant" that only complains and never provides a solution.

Sometimes the issue is not so much what is happening as it is in how it is happening. Following social media etiquette is important because it demonstrates that you are a good human—the world desperately needs more good people.

What you may not consider offensive because you are male might be offensive to a female, and vice versa, it may be offensive to a specific generation or religious affiliation. As a general rule, consider your online behavior's intention- whether it promotes wellness in any form or hurts and harms people. This is what guides your approach in interactions. This is what social media etiquette is all about!

Here are Five Strategies to Consider:

1. Schedule Social Media Time: Don't just go with the flow every time you receive a notification. One hack is to turn off notifications while doing other things. This is also important because it allows you to concentrate on the task or engagement at hand. It is not enough to be physically present; you must also be mentally present in order to give the task/engagement your all/best.
2. Stop Phubbing: Phubbing (using your device while interacting with someone) is impolite because you will be distracted and will not be as invested in the conversation as you should be. The health of a conversation is determined not only by how you feel afterward but also by how the other person feels. There is research that shows that just having a device in the room reduces the quality of conversation, let alone using it.
3. Don't spread or encourage hatred and toxicity: If you don't have anything positive to say, keep quiet. Recognize the distinction between responding and reacting to situations- Take a deep breath before posting or commenting- Decency is a product of who you are, not who others are. So don't try to justify your actions by claiming that they made you toxic.
4. Be compassionate and respectful in your tone: This is especially important if someone disagrees with you. You will not grow if you surround yourself with people who only compliment you. Constructive criticism, or a difference of opinion, is beneficial to your growth because it allows you to see things in new ways. Don't react defensively to constructive criticism or differences of opinion. Maintain a friendly tone, and be open to learning.
5. Do not discuss private matters in order to publicly shame someone: It's just bad behavior. Getting angry and our emotions, in general, aren't the issue; it's what we do afterward that is. Keep private matters private by not disclosing text, audio, pictures, or videos of others (without their consent). Also, when we post a group photo online, we often look to see if we look good, not if the others in the photo do. Don't share unflattering photos of your friends. Do better.

Globally, the average person spends about 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media (Kindly note that this is not the amount of time spent online but on social media). Social media etiquette is thus important because if we spend this many hours online (and there are so many million people active online), our mental health and wellbeing will be influenced to some extent by the interaction that occurs there—ours and that of others.

I remain yours truly,

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Ps- Would you like your friends to learn more about digital wellness? You can share this link with them to join the conversation.​

Pss: If you would like to make some (extra) money whenever you talk to people about my book as it helps them to become better digital citizens? Reply to this email with the word Affiliate Marketing, and I will create your 40% profit code for every sale that comes from you.

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