Friday, August 22, 2008

The Proper Way to Use Technology - 3

Can you ignore someone who "friends" you on a social-networking site?


And the Real Simple experts say...


Anna Post, resident technology etiquette expert at the Emily Post Institute, says "Yes. Giving someone you don't entirely trust access to personal information is a safety issue."

Joni Blecher, editorial director of LetsTalk.com agrees, "If people in your network can post and view photos and funny comments about you, it's best to restrict access to people who are truly your friends."

Jodi Smith, president of Mannersmith Consulting in Boston, adds "If it's someone you see too frequently to just ignore the request, simply tell her that you try to keep a low profile on networking sites and leave it at that."

Like some of you, it is hard for me to ignore people I know (even if I barely know them), because, well, I want people to like me. And, I want them to think nice things about me.

But, if the experts say it's okay (and not rude) to ignore someone on Facebook, maybe I CAN say no and people will like me anyway. :) Or maybe I just need to let that "people liking me thing" go...

On the other hand, ignoring people I don't know comes quite easily.



Moving on to the next question!


Is there a polite way to use call waiting?



(question and responses taken from September 2008 issue of Real Simple magazine. Article was titled "Manners 2.0 and written by Katie McElveen)

For all of you wondering how Mya's first full day of school went, stay tuned. I am planning on doing a little interview with the full-time scholar over the weekend, if she can fit me into her busy schedule!

8 comments:

Marla said...

No...that is why we got rid of it. If you don't interrupt the phone conversation you are on, the new caller thinks you are not home. I would rather they get a busy signal, so they will call back. Of course, I am not on the phone alot, so not having it works for me.

Your mother

Llama Momma said...

Ah, yes. Another reason I haven't set up any accounts with facebook and the like...

And I do have call waiting. If a call beeps in, I usually say, "Can you hang on one minute? I just need to make sure this isn't the school trying to get in touch with me."

Then I click over and tell whoever it is that I'll call them back later. This works for me. Then again, I don't spend a lot of time on the phone, so it hasn't been a big issue.

Unknown said...

If you have been waiting for an important call, I think it's okay to tell your current caller, "I'm so sorry, but I've been waiting for Jane to call me back and she's on the other line. Would you mind if I called you back later today?" But, if you have not been waiting for another call, I think you should just stay on the line and finish your current call. You can do *69 to see who it was that called on the other line and call them back later.

Lynn Cowell said...

I found your comments quite interesting. Just as we encourage our kids not to talk to strangers on the internet, we can take our own advice~
Lynn

Tami said...

interesting post, mego (don't know why i felt like calling you that!). personally, i have call waiting on my cell phone but i RARELY use it. i've always found it kind of rude when people switch over when i'm talking to them, so if i hear it beep, i'll take a quick glance and just remember to call them back.
i'm also kind of big on if i'm in a conversation with someone face to face to not answer my phone...but my love language is quality time, so i think that's why i feel extra sensitive about it. people complain that i don't ever answer my phone, so i'm sure it's not always a good thing, but if someone took the time to be with me face to face, i don't want to keep ignoring that to answer my phone. wow, long answer. sorry.

Ryan and Becky Weiss said...

I can usually see who the call waiting is from so I just call them back when I finish the current conversation. I spend A LOT of time on the phone so most people who call me know I will call them back if I'm on another call.

BUT, having said that if it's the school calling I will put the current caller on hold to make sure that there aren't any emergencies. Maybe that's still rude...

Can't wait to read what the "experts" say!

Jessica said...

I never answer it...personally, I think it is rude. Unless, it is my sister or mom or someone I am just chatting with. But if we are really talking about something and the other person wants to take the call, I just feel like it is insensitive to MY time as well. We all have things to do and the last thing I want to do is wait on hold until the other person can chat with someone else! I think a good solution is to take a quick look at the caller who is calling and call them back right after you are done! :)

Renata said...

I only answer it if I've been waiting for an important call - & then I usually tell the person on the phone that I'm waiting for a call, so I'm not being rude by ignoring them.