5. Being Self-Aware

The reason why all of this information about digital etiquette is important is because of how immersed in social media we all really are. Technology and the internet is expanding so quickly that it is hard to keep up with, and it is easy to forget the importance of digital etiquette and protecting our personal brand. This is where self-awareness comes into play, because our attempts to achieve the right perception of ourselves across social media platforms can be tricky at times.

Self-awareness on social media really comes down to the ability to remember who our audience really is, which is anyone and everyone in the world. So for example, something that one person might find funny, another person might find extremely offensive. Having the right tools and skills with digital etiquette will ensure that your use of social media remains appropriate and useful for your individual requirements.

One excellent source for information for those who want to find out more about the digital world, privacy, digital innovation, and much more, check out Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser. 

4. General Etiquette

Here are some more important tips for general digital etiquette:

1. Never forget that your audience is anyone and everyone who has access to the internet.

2. Keep this audience in mind every time you post something to social media.

3. Be aware of the way you display your personal brand and the perception you want to portray of yourself across the various social media platforms available to us.

4. Think twice, post once. Always think before you post anything and keep your personal brand in mind as you do.

5. Photo albums, or photo albums? You may remember the days where photo albums were a real, physical thing that we kept in our houses to share with our closest friends and family members. The whole world could not see those personal photo albums, but the whole world can ultimately see your photo albums online, especially without the right privacy settings. (Although, I honestly don't know how much I personally trust those.) Even if we don't want to keep physical photo albums at home, we should always remember that we don't need to post all of our personal photos to the internet if we don't want to. There is nothing wrong with keeping our photo albums to ourselves, while carefully selecting which ones we want to post online.


S. Ribble, Mike, and Gerald D. Bailey. Teaching Digital Citizenship: When Will It Become a Priority for 21st Century Schools? Manhattan: www.educ.ksu.edu. Print.

3. The Proper Platform

Another important thing to remember is that there are different social media platforms for a reason. Some are more similar to each other, while other's have widely different uses. For example, Facebook is not Plenty of Fish, and LinkedIn is not Twitter. We want to always make sure that we are using the various social media platforms available to us for the right purposes. Otherwise, we run the risk of being inappropriate and/or unprofessional.

Here are some guideline questions to help us stay on the right track with using the proper platforms:

1. Is this platform designed to be social for personal or professional use? (Ex. Facebook falls under a personal social experience, while LinkedIn falls under a professional social experience.)
2. Now that I have decided which social category this social media platform falls under, what kind of perception of myself do I want to display on the platform? (We all have various sides to who we are, and we want to make sure we display our personal identities appropriately across the different social media platforms.)
3. Which circles should I consider for this social media platform? (For example, the types of people and reasons to search for us might be different across social media platforms. It is also a good idea to keep our professional circles separate from our personal circles with the use of different social media platforms wherever possible.)


Madden, Mary. "Privacy Management on Social Media Sites." (2012). Pew Internet and American Life Project. Web. <http://www.isaca.org>

2. Building Your Brand

By building your brand, I mean literally building your own personal brand on social media. This is important because perception is key, and it is important to decide how you want to be perceived on social media. Sometimes it is difficult to imagine your audience, since your audience could potentially be anyone and everyone in the world. Potential employers, friends, family members, strangers, everyone! So take caution in building your personal brand online and pay close attention to the importance of perception.

Some tips for building your personal brand online can include:

1. Having the same profile picture throughout all platforms. (Ex. Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
2. Do not upload photos or write statuses that you wouldn't feel comfortable with the whole world seeing. After all, we really are at each other's fingertips.
3. Make use of privacy settings where necessary. You may have many of your circles on the same social media platform, for example, both your best friends as well as your family members on Facebook. This is particularly useful if you want to filter out certain circles for certain posts rather than avoiding the upload altogether.

1. Introduction

Social media has become a vital part of our daily lives. We are all connected and at each other's finger tips in such a mobile and internet-based society. It has become a norm for all of us to be on multiple different social media platforms, and be able to find anyone at any time with the click of a button. With such a connection to the world, it makes it vitally important for us to be aware of digital etiquette. Topics of consideration include:

1. Building Your Brand

2. The Proper Platform 

3. General Etiquette

4. Being Self-Aware