Etiquette for Social Media

I think the rules for online etiquette listed on the 11 rules for social media are perfect. I would have never guessed that someone would create rules of social media use but I think it is important that they did. Teachers are going to have to teach their students how to properly use technologies. These rules create guidelines for the students so they are aware of how to appropriately use social media and online technologies. A teacher could rewrite some of these rules to give their students a better understanding what they mean, but for the most part I believe that they easy to follow, and encourage the safe and appropriate use of social media. I don’t think that I would necessarily use the first rule in my class room, “Give more than you receive”. If I was having my student use blogs for instance I would want them to “give” as much as they are willing to or even able to. Because these blogs would be for peer communication they would “receive” enough information back that would be useful to them with our having to give anymore then they are willing to. Also the second and fourth rule deal a lot with not talking “trash” to those online or “sabotaging” others, I think these are great rules but for classroom use maybe unnecessary. If students are using social media at school they are most likely going to be monitored and working on something specific so they will not have time to do these things. This also could closely relate to cyberbullying, which I believe students should receive a lesson on prior to technology use any way. Two rules that I would have my students definitely follow would be “Respect the Community and Listen to Others”. My students need to use the social etiquette that they use toward their peers in person, online. They need to respect those online because in a classroom setting they will most likely be their peers. They need to treat others online just as they want to be treated. Also, they need to listen to others. If it is assigned for students to give and receive responses on their blog from their peers they need to be able to take what their peers are saying into consideration. They need to understand that their peers aren’t trying to harm them or make them feel bad, but they are giving them useful and resourceful information that they can learn from.