Social media etiquette

By Ghadeer Habash
Internationally Certified Career Trainer

The summer is full of events and celebratory occasions and many will wish to capture these memories on their phones and post them too! But before you click away on social media, consider these social media etiquette tips.

•Choose a photo where everyone looks good — not only you! People tend to post the best photo of themselves regardless of how others look. Give others the consideration you would wish for yourself 

•Before clicking away, ask the permission of everyone in the photo before you post on your social media account 

•Crop those who don’t wish their picture to be posted or those who are not in your group

•Get permission to tag them or mention them (many people are not comfortable with being mentioned or tagged for different reasons); respect their privacy

•Never post a photo of someone eating, chewing or swallowing 

•Never post a picture or video of someone looking inappropriate while sitting or leaning

•It’s always nice to give photo credit where it’s due

•It’s courteous to thank those who invited you to the dinner or the event organisers for hosting you

•Avoid sharing political opinions

•It’s not courteous to post negative remarks or negative opinions; for example, “I didn’t find the food great”

•Always check for grammatical and spelling mistakes before posting

•It’s in poor taste to exploit social events with family and friends to promote yourself or your business; if in doubt, ask the hostess or host before you post

•Before you post, take a moment to think through it. How does it represent you and those in the photo or video? Are you proud of the post and feel it is an accurate representation?

Avoiding the use of Snapchat or ‘live’ streaming

Here are some reasons of why you should avoid being obsessed with your phone and with capturing the moment on film: 

•To enjoy the moment, not only to show that your life is better than it might be! 

•Staying on your phone all the time conveys a message of disrespect to everyone sitting at your table

•Snap and Live don’t allow you to edit; if anything or anyone shouldn’t appear at that moment, it’s too late! 

•Not everybody will have been invited to the event you are attending, so this may create hard feelings for others

•By filming your friend’s home live, you are inviting outsiders, whom you may not know yourself, into your friend’s home and privacy

Lastly, try to live the moment and avoid comparing yourself to others. Remember, comparison is the thief of joy.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine