15 New Rules for Communicating in the Digital Age
Someone came up with a list of 15 new rules for digital communication we should all be following. Like, don’t randomly FaceTime people . . . don’t “like” or “love” your own posts on Facebook . . . and stop it with all the group texts.
See how many of these you agree with . . .
1. Don’t randomly FaceTime people. If you want to video chat, shoot them a text first.
2. One-word texts like “K” and “LOL” are conversation killers. Don’t respond with one-word replies, unless you don’t want to talk anymore.
3. If someone you know comments on a photo or video you posted, you should respond. Not necessarily a written response. A “like” or “love” is okay.
4. Don’t switch to a different form of communication. Meaning if someone emails you, respond via email, don’t text. And if they text, don’t email.
5. Don’t “like” your own posts. It makes you look desperate to get the number up.
6. Don’t ASK for “likes,” comments, or shares. Again, lame.
7. Don’t take hours to return a text, unless there’s a good reason. (Not sure I’m on board with that one.)
8. If someone doesn’t text back right away, settle down. It’s not a big deal.
9. But . . . if you have time to post on Snapchat or Instagram, you have time to return a text. So don’t get caught.
10. You don’t have to leave a voice message. Everyone has caller I.D. So you can stop leaving message like, “Hey, it’s me. Just calling to check in.”
11. If someone asks you multiple questions via text, address all of them. Don’t just reply to one part of the message. (That’s an oddly specific thing to make the list.)
12. Don’t go on Facebook and post a bunch of cheesy quotes or memes back-to-back.
13. It’s perfectly acceptable to just text “happy birthday” now.
14. Don’t start so many group chats via text. It’s insane how many times your phone goes off. So half of the people in the group are just annoyed the whole time.
15. Try not to deliver bad news through text or social media. It’s the one time when face-to-face or a phone call is still the way to go.
