Digital Etiquette For Dummies

Chapter 1

Defining Etiquette in the Digital Age

IN THIS CHAPTER

Learning some definitions

Gauging when etiquette considerations are called for

It’s easy enough to define etiquette, isn’t it? Just be kind to one another.

That’s all, folks — thank for reading!

Of course, you know that’s not the whole story or else you wouldn’t be reading this book. It’s hard enough to know what etiquette is when you’re dealing with other people face-to-face. But now communications devices have added many more rules for communicating not only with video cameras, which are ubiquitous on computers and phones, but also in situations where you don't even see the other person (and you may have noticed that makes people seem less considerate, to put it mildly).

Before we can talk about how to apply etiquette to the digital age in which everyone now finds themselves, we need to review some definitions. Once we do that, I’ll discuss how you can apply etiquette in different situations, including social, small group, and business environments.

Coming Up with Some Definitions

Let’s start with the obvious question: What is digital etiquette, anyway?

You may also have heard digital etiquette referred to by the portmanteau netiquette — that scrunching together of the words Internet and etiquette. No matter which ...