The Daily Express is offering its readers some help tackling some of the business world’s electronic challenges in Cheryl Stonehoue’s piece ‘”Etiquette in the electronic age”.  The feature provides advice on everything from whether it is rude to respond via email or SMS when someone calls you; whether it’s acceptable to bcc people in on emails;  to using a mobile while getting your hair done; and the dos and don’t’s of using emoticons in work email.

Not being a regular Express reader I’ve been tackling these thorny issues for years and have developed a rule that covers all of these problems: if it would be considered socially unacceptable in the non-electronic world, it’s probably best avoided in the electronic one.

Contrary to Express advice however, I have been known to use bcc (the etiquette expert from Debretts says this is a akin to lying) when I want to keep colleagues aware of conversations they are not necessarily playing an active role in.  The lady from Debretts says we should re-send messages to those lurking in the bcc box… with a note making them aware.  I don’t know about her, but working in technology pr I simply don’t have the time!

Lyndon Johnson