So this is a hard question to distill into two minutes. “Is there a difference between online versus offline etiquette?” The answer is obviously yes. I have met a few trolls in real life and found them to be engaging and polite – often soft spoken. I would give the horrid commenters on YouTube the benefit of the doubt as well.
However the video series is aimed at giving people in business advice on how to behave so I took the answer from that perspective.

Transcript:
I read this question as, “what are the differences between online and offline social etiquette”
Ideally, none. In an ideal world – and my personal rule-of-thumb – you would behave online as though you were sitting at a table with your best friend, your boss and your mom. It takes a lot of the juicy bits off the table but do you really want to publish those pieces to the world? I don’t think so. Here are a few tips to keep you out of trouble online and off…

• Use your real identity – no one appreciates an imposter
• Listen and understand the context before you jump in
• Be Nice – sounds silly but just as in real life – it goes a long way
• Disclose any conflicts of interest or paid relationships up front
• Know your facts: argue for ideas and back them up. Never succumb to personality arguments
• Finally, Don’t Lie – This one sounds so simple but it is disarmingly hard in online business…What was considered acceptable business tactics in another generation, such as creating a front group to represent your opinions – Working Families for Walmart – being a textbook case – Is tantamount to lying when using a social technology like a blog – and no one takes kindly to lying.

The Social Web is about people – not technology – and as with any social grouping, etiquette are the tacit rules that keep everyone in check. So while the word etiquette sounds trivial – it is a critical success factor in approaching the Social Web.

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