Dork-o-meter Red Alert

“The trouble with learning from experience is that you never graduate.” - Doug Larson

When etiquette questions arise in real life social situations one might refer to Emily Post. Is there an internet equivalent for proper behavior on social media sites? I’m asking because I unknowingly committed a faux pas and my cheeks are glowing with shame. My transgression—‘signing’ my name and leaving a link at the end of my comments.

According to an article on Lorelle on WordPress, including my signature not only identifies me as a novice, but it also classifies me a dork. Not exactly good for one’s self-esteem, but then again, I have been called worse.

The signature is redundant, she says, because the comment usually starts with the name of the person leaving a comment. If you click on that name, you have access to commenter’s info including their blog or blogs. I tried it and it works. What can I say? Life is all about living and learning.

Dorky as it might be, I still think the signature line saves a step for those of us interested in checking out different blogs. I haven't decided if I'll try to break my signature habit or not.

Too intimidated to leave a comment on Lorelle’s blog (that and the fact it was written in 2007), I did take heart in that many of the 45 comments she received took her to task for her unkind remarks. Most of them said, “Who cares.”

Although Lorelle called me a name, I did find some other interesting information on her site. There are tips and advice on blogging so I’ll probably go back and visit again—once my pain vanishes. For those using WordPress, she offers specific help and techniques. But, remember my warning should you leave her a comment—you don’t want to set off her dork-o-meter.

In my search to improve my manners and maybe reduce the dork-o-meter to yellow, I ran across 8 Sure-Fire Ways to Tick Off the Twitterverse and Golden Rules of Social Media.

Now that I have learned something about etiquette on social sites, I am ready to move on to finding out how to spend time tweeting and blogging and still get work done. Therefore, I am excited to announce that on Wednesday, Elizabeth Grace Saunders will be a guest here with information about time management relating to social media. Elizabeth is an inspiring keynote speaker, women in business trainer, life coach, and nationally published writer. You can find out more about her at Reallife.

Leave a comment or question and you’ll have a chance to win John Allen’s book Fried Green Zombies. Rest assured, I do not own a dork-o-meter. I like comments and I don’t care if or how they are signed. I simply appreciate the fact that you visited and took the time to let me know.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Doug Larson, Emily Post, WordPress, self-esteem, Elizabeth Saunders,