Technology has certainly thrown some curve balls at us as professionals, parents, individuals etc. I was sitting in a meeting the other day watching someone read an email during the discussion and it started to bother me due to poor etiquette.
We see this sort of thing every day but if you think about it, would you open a letter and read it during an important client meeting? No. What in the world makes people think it is OK to tap on the iPhone and start reading away. You have to love the James Bonds out there who think they are 100 percent clandestine by holding the phone slightly under the table, where they think no one can see them playing solitaire.
Ultimately, busting out your mobile device when others are talking, especially in a closed door meeting is a serious lack of respect. To the person committing the infraction it might not seem like a big deal, but what if it was your son pulling out his phone while you were telling him stories of your travels through Cambodia as a boy. Or your wife pulling out her phone while you tried to share a story of your first ABBA concert in 1971. Hi-Tech rudeness is everywhere and it certainly is not limited to email. Texting, Internet Browsing, Phone, Music, Games, Social Media, Movies and Email are all at your finger-tips, the temptation is there, but stay away.
As far as threats go, good technology etiquette can save you and your office from serious danger. There is someone in every office that just can’t stop clicking. You know the person. Mr. or Mrs. Clicks. They click on everything like a mouse in a cage pressing the food dispenser. They get an email from Fed Ex, click, they see a pop up, click. This approach to computing will lead you down a dark road every time.
Malware, Trojans and Viruses usually get downloaded by rampant clickers. A fake email from Fed Ex just will get you and your firm the Crypto Locker virus. We saw dozens of instances in our customer base last year. It is truly malicious, and generally avoidable. If you do not bank with Bank of America and you get an email from Bank of America about your account; how about not clicking on it. You can also look at the address from where the domain is from, it usually looks shady. For example, bob@BankingAmericax.com or something that is just not right.
Another interesting area in tech etiquette is the back on the email front. Not just mobile email, but the abuse of reply all and the all too common angry emailer. The tricky thing about email is that what you read is being filtered and influenced by your mood. If you are fired up like a 1985 version of Hulk Hogan on steroids, the most innocent of emails might be misconstrued as hostile. However, if you receive a truly hostile email, your might feel the temptation to reply in just a hostile manner. No good can come from that. Let the situation settle down and pick up the phone or ask for a meeting to discuss in person. That should defuse the situation whereas a hostile reply will most certainly escalate it.
Lastly for you Social Media nuts out there, keep it clean on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Posting angry or risqué pictures and updates is never a good idea. Unless you are Charlie Sheen of course, because the never ending train wreck of Sheen just keeps providing him additional revenue streams. His latest rant this week on Twitter was insulting Kim Kardashian, check with your friends at TMZ for more info on that 24-7 circus of winning. Anyway, keep it clean, the same rules you use for normal etiquette also apply for digital etiquette. You wouldn’t open a package from North Korea if it arrived in your mailbox would you?
