Social media faux pas? The evolution of etiquette, rules and norms in a Web 2.0 world
Recently, I was able to listen to Tris Hussey’s excellent talk at Third Tuesday. While at the event, we discussed the widely publicized case of Raymond Lam having to resign after having photos of him leaked from his personal Facebook account. We discussed the fact that the boundaries between the private and the public are highly blurred now, and that we need to talk about etiquette in social media. I wanted to just use this post to announce that we (and by we I mean, Shane Gibson, Lorraine Murphy and myself) will have this discussion at the next Vancouver Bloggers Meetup. We are hoping to have Colleen Coplick moderate the roundtable.
Yes, everyone, it’s true. I am hijacking my own Meetup in order to continue with a much needed discussion on the rules and etiquette of social media. Here is the abstract of our panel.
Rules, Norms and Web 2.0: Etiquette in an Era of Evolutionary Social [Dis]Organization
Etiquette is frequently seen as a constraining set of behavioral rules, delineating what behaviors are appropriate within a certain social arena and which are not. But in a context of online multiverses, each with its own culture and demographic, what is truly the “right” thing, and how can we know it? Culture clashes and rapid evolution of social norms are ubiquitous in social media: why? What is appropriate etiquette? Is it portable across platforms? What are the ‘right’ kind of rules and norms in an unruly arena such as the online social media world? The participants in this panel will engage in a conversation about what constitutes etiquette, whether or not it relates to a moral imperative, whether it emerges as self-appointed leaders create specific sets of norms and discuss the evolution of etiquette in emergent social media. The implications for codes of behavior and etiquette in Web 2.0 are also discussed.
I’ll announce it on the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup site and on Twitter once I have firmed up a location (which most likely will be the Regis Room at the St. Regis Hotel, downtown, right beside the Granville Street Skytrain station exit on Dunsmuir).
Related posts:
- Vancouver Bloggers Meetup and Social Media Club Vancouver Event March 18th
- Social Media Club Vancouver launch
- On the etiquette of re-tweets – a response
- Reflections on Twitter etiquette
- Parks and off-leash dogs: Rules are broken everywhere
Excellent topic to dive into!
The whole Ray Lam incident was overblown and IMHO it was a generational issue as opposed to there being anything really “wrong” with his photos. Reading comments on articles about his resignation it was easy to see that the court of public opinion was divided very clearly along generational lines. People raised in a time without easy access to computers and no Internet were far more taken aback by the photos than were most people who have never really known a world without computers the Internet.
By the time we get to the next election vetting candidates via their social media use will likely be the rule not the exception it is now. I’d also venture a guess that by the next election this type of situation will not register as more than a blip on the radar of the public and no one would be forced to resign over such innocuous pictures.
I’m curious to know how “etiquette, rules and norms in a Web 2.0 world” are affected by those same generational divides. My guess would be that one would see a dramatic difference between those users who reached adulthood pre-Internet versus those who did post-Internet.
I’m thrilled to moderate. Looking forward to it!
I’ll be there for sure. As you probably know Facebook announced a sea change this week in the data stream privacy policy and the availability for 3rd parties to access it is just around the corner. That said juggling what is public and what is private on FB is going to be even more confusing. I suspect that there will be a lot more Privacy failures in the near future.
So much of social media is a moving target, and as the technology changes, so do the social rules. It’s always a moving target.
raincoaster’s last blog post..MIA
It will be a lot of fun, I am sure. I’ve asked Colleen to ask tough questions (and we all know she’s good at that!)
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