In my teens I waited till there was no one at home to go explore the abandoned house next door or use their old rusting gate as a swing. I am probably too ancient to talk about today’s teenagers, but my own sibling and many of my cousins were teenagers till a few years ago while some are still teenagers. So I feel I have enough knowledge and authority on the subject given my Know it All attitude.
What has etiquette got to do with teenagers and social media you ask? Well, lots!
First things first – the person in front of your face physically has more priority than the person whose pics you are scrolling through on Instagram or whose videos you are watching on Youtube. They deserve your undivided attention. Teenagers are not the only violators of this golden rule. Those of you in your forties are probably the same. When you are in discussion with someone or someone asks you a question, put your phone away, look at the person’s face, smile and talk to that person. Carry on the conversation for a reasonable time before burying your face in the blue light again.
Number 02 – Live For Real and Not Just Online
I sit at interview panels for different categories of employee recruitment. Often we have young girls and boys who are just out of school walking in to the room with the hope of securing employment. They may have got good grades and have a clean record but are unable to meet the eye, keep fidgeting while they wait, some even glance at their phone every now and then and seem to only know what they see and read on social media. Their language is not professional and heavily riddled with words such as ‘you guys’, ‘like’, ‘wanna’, ‘gonna’ and ‘whatever’. Where are the inter personal skills that we wanted our children to have? Swept away by social media and its boundless but limited interactions with society.
I am all for social media – I believe in its power to transform, support businesses and empower. The first thing I do in the morning after responding to my Whatsapp messages and email is to check my LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook profiles. I don’t post regularly, but I check fairly often. What I want to make every reader understand is that, like in every other aspect of life, there are right and wrong things when using social media. We must make sure it lifts us and not drags us down.
Number 03 – Post Not Want Not
As an interviewer when in doubt I always check their social media profiles. Obscene content, plain stupidity, hurtful remarks, naivety and fickle mindedness do not score well from a Full of Etiquette point of view. Social media is our virtual appearance. Just like you would not want to walk around in ragged jeans, torn clothes, mismatched outfits and broken shoes, you must keep your social media spruce. (Speaking of mismatched outfits, I will write a blog about that soon).
Number 04 – Keep your two cents worth to yourself
If you are unlikely to tell it to a person’s face and it is cruel to say it, don’t put it as a comment in a line of comments. If you have nothing nice to say, keep quiet. When you want to get a point across, be diplomatic and polite. Somethings are not meant to be said for the whole world to hear or see for that matter. Pick the phone up and tell that person only. If you have never heard of a telephone call, I guess you know that PM does not stand for Prime Minister only.
Number 05 – It is not the Mode for all communication
From wedding invitations to corporate event dates, social media is used to communicate about everything. However, if formality is required or a personal touch is required, social media may not be the best option. If you need to speak to someone much older than you who deserves a lot of respect, don’t write on that person’s wall or PM that person. Try to place a call or send an email unless it is agreed beforehand that using Whatsapp is acceptable.
Let us bring up a nation of dutiful, responsible and pleasant citizens. Not a bunch of theorists who know everything in the book but are awkward in front of people. Not a group of people who think that the number of likes for their photographs decide their level of success in life and do not feel the ground beneath their feet.
Good luck to all our parents, teachers, adults and older siblings who are trying to do this! Please feel free to discuss the issues that you face in doing so or email us at fullofetiquette@gmail.com. Let’s work together to create a generation that we can be proud of.
Full of Etiquette 
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