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Feb. 09 2012

Social Networking, again

By Mark Malinowski | Posted in Host Blogs | 2 Comments

So, someone has come up with something called “The 10 Commandments of Twitter.”  I’m not going to go through all of them.  Suffice it to say that most of it seems obvious (to me, anyway), but because someone has come up with these, it’s obvious that it’s not obvious. (How’s that for obfuscation?)

I will discuss two of the “Commandments.”  Commandment IV states that one should always thank someone for a complimentary tweet, or a retweet, or a mention (when someone uses your “twitter handle” in a tweet).  I don’t think one needs a Ph.D. to figure this one out. Acknowledgement is part of common (nothing common about it these days) courtesy.

Commandment IX states “Though shall not be vulgar.”  Holy (smoke) Batman! I am astounded at how vulgar some of the tweets I see are.  Look, I’m not a prude. I’ve heard it all (remember–26 years in the Navy).  Once again, what one chooses to say in a private missive is one thing, and what one chooses to say in a VERY public forum is another altogether. When I was an instructor at the Defense Information School (I taught journalism and broadcasting) I would tell my students that every word they wrote is an autobiography, every picture is a self portrait. Like it or not, you will be judged by what you choose to put before the public.

Perhaps I AM prudish, or maybe I’m becoming an old fuddy-duddy. I think not, though.  I just think that we can do better, and feel that if more of us “cleaned up our act” on an individual level, we would improve on a collective one.

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Mark is WBJC's morning host. His full bio can be read here.

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