medialifemagazine.com
Proper manners and social networking
By Heidi Dawley
Jun 17, 2008 - 1:05:54 AM
The word "etiquette" has largely disappeared from everyday usage, and no wonder, perceived as it is these days as an arcane world only the leisure class has time to contemplate. Pinkies in or out while drinking tea?
But there is a very practical side to etiquette, which is making people feel comfortable, especially in unfamiliar circumstances. Note that American etiquette was born in the early years of the railroad, when people found themselves jammed for long hours in cramped railroad cars--and exposed to the grossest frontier behavior.
The new railroad car is the social networking site, and it's looking like it could use a good dose of etiquette. Fun, yes, but very Wild West, and surprisingly full of inappropriate behavior.
Nearly two thirds of people report being confused and frustrated by social interactions on sites like Facebook and MySpace, finds a new study out of Britain.
Here are a few of their biggest beefs:
-Friends who let social networking take over their lives, gassing on and on about who has posted what
-Friends posting embarrassing photos of them without asking
-Mannerless folks who respond to a phone call not by calling back but by posting a note on their page
-Poachers, people who go through your friends list and steal names
And how do you respond to pokes, messages from people that you don’t want to talk to? More to the point, how do you respond to an ex when in a relationship with someone else?
For answers to these vital questions, we can turn to the ultimate arbiters of such things in Britain, Debrett's. A firm with deep roots in the etiquette of the upper crust, it publishes "Correct Form" and also "Debrett’s Peerage & Baronetage," a who’s who of nobility.
Debrett’s believes it knows how to navigate the pitfalls of the internet.
"The trend for social networking has made new demands on traditional etiquette. Play it safe, and always employ your usual good manners when online, treating others with kindness and respect," counsels Jo Bryant, an etiquette advisor with Debrett’s, in a statement. (Unfortunately the company politely declined to find time to speak to this reporter.)
Here are Debrett’s five top tips to keep etiquette up to snuff in the modern world of social networking.
"You don’t have to make friends with people you don’t know. It’s not a competition to see how many friends you can get. Think before you poke."
"Always wait 24 hours before accepting or removing someone as a friend. The delay will help you gather your thoughts."
"Birthdays, engagements and weddings are not virtual events. Always send birthday cards or call your friends when there’s important news."
"Consider your friends’ feelings before posting pictures. Put yourself in their shoes before clicking upload."
"Think carefully about your profile picture – if you don’t want to see it in your local newspaper, don’t put it online."
***
Meanwhile, in online ratings for the week ended June 8, according to Nielsen Online, Google claimed the top spot among parent companies, followed by Microsoft, Yahoo, Time Warner and News Corp. Online. For the second straight week, the top five brands were Google, Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, AOL Media Network and Microsoft.
Experian Group Limited regained the top advertiser spot with 5.1 million impressions, with last week’s No. 2, NexTag, dropping to second at 4.9 million. With 25.5 million ads served, Yahoo was again the top advertising site, well ahead of No. 2 MySpace at 7 million.
Sessions per person per week were up one from the previous week to 17, and domains visited per person were up one to 41. PC time per person rose 5 percent compared with the previous week to 17 hours and 52 minutes.
|
Top 25 parent companies
Through June 8 |
|
#
|
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time Spent per Person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1
|
Google
|
91,452
|
65.3
|
0:36:40
|
|
2
|
Microsoft
|
85,022
|
60.7
|
0:44:12
|
|
3
|
Yahoo!
|
78,681
|
56.2
|
1:04:55
|
|
4
|
Time Warner
|
68,551
|
48.9
|
1:15:50
|
|
5
|
News Corp. Online
|
42,553
|
30.4
|
0:50:42
|
|
6
|
eBay
|
32,904
|
23.5
|
0:46:23
|
|
7
|
InterActiveCorp
|
28,848
|
20.6
|
0:11:50
|
|
8
|
Amazon
|
24,915
|
17.8
|
0:13:56
|
|
9
|
Apple Computer
|
24,540
|
17.5
|
0:30:52
|
|
10
|
Wikimedia Foundation
|
23,650
|
16.9
|
0:11:42
|
|
11
|
Landmark Communications
|
23,246
|
16.6
|
0:14:00
|
|
12
|
Walt Disney Internet Group
|
20,655
|
14.7
|
0:25:09
|
|
13
|
New York Times Company
|
19,169
|
13.7
|
0:10:45
|
|
14
|
AT&T Inc.
|
18,466
|
13.2
|
0:19:20
|
|
15
|
RealNetworks, Inc.
|
14,349
|
10.2
|
0:16:04
|
|
16
|
Facebook
|
14,306
|
10.2
|
0:38:29
|
|
17
|
Viacom Digital
|
13,785
|
9.8
|
0:24:52
|
|
18
|
CNET Networks
|
13,382
|
9.6
|
0:06:10
|
|
19
|
Comcast Corp.
|
13,343
|
9.5
|
0:31:36
|
|
20
|
Verizon Communications
|
13,216
|
9.4
|
0:17:56
|
|
21
|
CraigsList
|
13,014
|
9.3
|
0:37:37
|
|
22
|
E.W. Scripps Company
|
12,969
|
9.3
|
0:05:47
|
|
23
|
Bank of America
|
12,501
|
8.9
|
0:21:54
|
|
24
|
United Online
|
11,090
|
7.9
|
0:29:07
|
|
25
|
Gannett
|
10,199
|
7.3
|
0:12:00
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online
|
|
Top 25 brands
Through June 8 |
|
|
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time spent per person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1 |
Google
|
84,337
|
60.2
|
0:26:47
|
|
2 |
Yahoo!
|
77,978
|
55.7
|
1:05:09
|
|
3 |
MSN/Windows Live
|
65,124
|
46.5
|
0:44:49
|
|
4 |
AOL Media Network
|
54,260
|
38.7
|
1:24:51
|
|
5 |
Microsoft
|
51,385
|
36.7
|
0:16:08
|
|
6 |
Fox Interactive Media
|
37,448
|
26.7
|
0:53:51
|
|
7 |
YouTube
|
31,490
|
22.5
|
0:28:41
|
|
8 |
eBay
|
27,917
|
19.9
|
0:47:07
|
|
9 |
Apple
|
24,540
|
17.5
|
0:30:52
|
|
10 |
Wikipedia
|
23,530
|
16.8
|
0:11:41
|
|
11 |
Amazon
|
21,029
|
15.0
|
0:12:23
|
|
12 |
Weather Channel
|
19,906
|
14.2
|
0:15:22
|
|
13 |
Blogger
|
17,880
|
12.8
|
0:06:04
|
|
14 |
Ask Search Network
|
16,213
|
11.6
|
0:11:28
|
|
15 |
CNN Digital Network
|
15,184
|
10.8
|
0:19:42
|
|
16 |
Real Network
|
14,349
|
10.2
|
0:16:04
|
|
17 |
Facebook
|
14,306
|
10.2
|
0:38:29
|
|
18 |
AT&T
|
13,271
|
9.5
|
0:22:56
|
|
19 |
About.com
|
13,085
|
9.3
|
0:04:01
|
|
20 |
Craigslist
|
12,996
|
9.3
|
0:37:39
|
|
21 |
Bank of America
|
11,914
|
8.5
|
0:22:06
|
|
22 |
Comcast
|
9,723
|
6.9
|
0:41:36
|
|
23 |
Circuit City
|
9,446
|
6.7
|
0:02:30
|
|
24 |
Glam Media
|
9,348
|
6.7
|
0:10:12
|
|
25 |
Chase
|
9,064
|
6.5
|
0:14:01
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online |
|
Top 25 advertisers
(excludes house ads)
Through June 8 |
|
#
|
Company
|
Impressions (000)
|
|
1 |
Experian Group Limited
|
5,111,240
|
|
2 |
NexTag, Inc.
|
4,908,324
|
|
3 |
Vonage Holdings Corp
|
3,479,443
|
|
4 |
College-Finder.net
|
2,267,572
|
|
5 |
Netflix, Inc.
|
1,512,938
|
|
6 |
AT&T Corp.
|
1,375,193
|
|
7 |
Deutsche Telekom AG
|
1,341,283
|
|
8 |
Sony Corporation
|
1,299,302
|
|
9 |
Edmunds.com, Inc.
|
1,264,166
|
|
10 |
Scottrade, Inc.
|
1,158,017
|
|
11 |
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
|
1,018,833
|
|
12 |
Verizon Communications, Inc.
|
781,477
|
|
13 |
Discovery Communications, Inc.
|
704,908
|
|
14 |
Time Warner Inc.
|
676,553
|
|
15 |
The Walt Disney Corporation
|
675,306
|
|
16 |
InterActiveCorp
|
622,762
|
|
17 |
United Online, Inc.
|
592,050
|
|
18 |
Apollo Group, Inc.
|
556,946
|
|
19 |
Unclassified Local Advertiser
|
524,616
|
|
20 |
Privacy Matters
|
522,863
|
|
21 |
XM Satellite Radio, Inc.
|
482,110
|
|
22 |
E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp.
|
451,960
|
|
23 |
Toyota Motor Corporation
|
424,872
|
|
24 |
General Electric Company
|
397,255
|
|
25 |
Ford Motor Company
|
380,212
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service. |
|
Top 25 advertising sites
(excludes house ads)
Through June 8 |
|
|
Company
|
Impressions (000)
|
|
1 |
Yahoo!
|
25,465,794
|
|
2 |
MySpace
|
7,023,637
|
|
3 |
MSN
|
3,288,433
|
|
4 |
MSNBC
|
1,133,485
|
|
5 |
Comcast.net
|
1,130,104
|
|
6 |
eBay
|
875,544
|
|
7 |
AOL.com
|
784,761
|
|
8 |
FOXNEWS.COM
|
540,294
|
|
9 |
The Weather Channel
|
530,977
|
|
10 |
YouTube
|
498,990
|
|
11 |
IMDb
|
494,779
|
|
12 |
New York Times
|
461,736
|
|
13 |
Photobucket
|
405,702
|
|
14 |
Facebook
|
377,462
|
|
15 |
NeoPets
|
368,564
|
|
16 |
CNN
|
312,809
|
|
17 |
Juno
|
253,406
|
|
18 |
Amazon
|
252,840
|
|
19 |
NetZero
|
245,509
|
|
20 |
ESPN.com
|
233,420
|
|
21 |
Pogo
|
223,384
|
|
22 |
Verizon Online
|
216,040
|
|
23 |
AT&T Worldnet
|
201,236
|
|
24 |
Excite
|
196,214
|
|
25 |
CNBC
|
181,822
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Above data does not include any house advertising activity. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service. |
|
Average use
Through June 8 |
|
|
Current Week
|
Last Week
|
% Change
|
|
Sessions/Visits per Person
|
17
|
16
|
6.25
|
|
Domains Visited per Person
|
41
|
40
|
2.5
|
|
PC Time per Person
|
17:52:01
|
17:00:16
|
5.07
|
|
Active Digital Media Universe
|
140,120,348
|
139,504,107
|
0.44
|
|
Current Digital Media Universe Estimate
|
223,077,372
|
222,453,988
|
0.28
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online |
© 2009 Media Life
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