A piece on Forbes.com titled Are You Practicing Proper Social Networking Etiquette? suggests

“creating rules to cope with the ever-expanding reach of modern communications has just begun, but will be shaped largely by individuals and organizations, not top-down decrees from a digital Emily Post.” (italics mine)

The article goes on to ask, “(is) it wise to accept a colleague or higher-up as a ‘friend’” on a social network?. While some of these questions have been brought on by new methods of communications, others are just plain common sense, and do not need to be thought of in the context of social networking.

This question in the previous paragraph involves both social networking issues and pre-Web 2.0 business etiquette. To answer it, I would consider a number of things:

• Does your company expect you to be available for extended hours? Seriously, the Blackberry was introduced in 1999, so the notion that prior to Facebook your boss was unable to reach you after-hours is a little naive.
• Do you use your account primarily for professional reasons or personal reasons, or has the line disappeared for you?
• Is this person also an actual friend, or just a colleague?

Ten years ago you could have asked these same questions about e-mail, wondering, “Should I give my personal e-mail address to my boss?” for example.

The key for determining social network etiquette is to start by forgetting the social network itself. It’s just a layer of abstraction that makes the question appear new and mysterious. Once you set aside the technology and examine the human interactions behind any question of etiquette, the answers will generally become apparent.

Tags: Forbes, Social Network, Etiquette