I went through some of the SMSs sent by some young IT professionals. I made some observations on the same that the SMSs sent by them are not exactly in line with what the corporate world expects.
We need to aware of some of the SMS Etiquettes while writing to anyone.
I am sharing some of the best practices to be followed while writing any SMS.
I sincerely hope this list will help our young IT professionals to a great extent in their careers and personal lives.
SMS Etiquettes we must follow.
1. Please note the casual tone used in the SMS always diminishes the strength and meaning of the message. Never forget this point.
2. Common courtesy rules always apply. You need to respect every one and their profession whenever you are mentioning some ones name in SMS.
3. Please be very aware of your tone in the message. It is extremely difficult to discern tone in text messages, just as in e-mail. What seems to you to be a completely innocuous message may be grossly misinterpreted by the recipient, causing certain discomfort if not irreparable harm.
4. Using SMS Slangs in your messages is good only with your friends and within close circle and NOT for official communication.
6. Don't expect everyone to know the lingo of the SMS.
7. But you must discontinue this habit as soon as you enter professional colleges. None of the institutions and corporate organizations encourage or respect such language.
8. You need to be very clear and formal with your superiors, colleagues, customers and people with whom you are talking for the first time in your messages.
9. Whenever you are writing to any of your elders, please address them properly, respect their age and be very clear in messages.
10. Use words like ‘Please ‘, ‘Kindly’ wherever necessary. Your SMS should reflect the way you interact with them outside.
11. Words like ‘Hey’ , 'gotta', 'donno', 'kinda'..or ” Ok..? “ can easily cause more damage to your reputation and relation with any person.
12. You need NOT be ‘cool’ with anyone. You need to be decent, clear, formal and pass the message in most effective way without causing any offense to others.
13. Remember composing an SMS while you're in a face-to-face conversation with someone is just about as rude as taking a voice call.
14. Don't get upset if you don't get a reply. Before you text someone and get frustrated at the lack of a response, be sure that they're familiar with how to use the service, and that their carrier will accept messages from yours.
15. Be conscientious of others' schedules. Don't assume that because you are awake, working, not busy, or sober that the person you're texting is as well. Many a pleasant slumber have been interrupted by recurring "beep-beep...beep-beeps" of messages.
16. Remember that SMS is informal. SMS should NOT be used for formal invitations or to dump your girlfriend or boyfriend!
17. Don't SMS while you're driving. Talking on the phone is bad enough. You won't know what hit you - or what you hit - if you are pounding out a message on your keyboard.
18. Remember that SMS can always be traced.
19. If it's immediate, make a voice call. If you can't get through and your text message is ignored, there's probably a good reason. There are still some times when people don't even have a thumb free to respond.
20. Remember that your phone does have an off button. There are very, very few things in the world that absolutely cannot wait.
21. There is no agreed-upon maximum number of text messages you can send to someone in a certain period without becoming a pest or a source of dread.
22. How often you can safely text someone depends on how close you are with that person, the importance of the information you are conveying, and the timing of the texts.
23. A good rule of thumb is to consider how many times you would be comfortable calling the same person in a day.
24. Think of each text conversation as a phone call and ask yourself whether you are imposing on the other person.
25. Reconsider that texted marriage proposal. When it comes to texting, the medium truly is the message.
26. It is almost never appropriate to conduct important conversations about relationships, major life events, or critical work issues via text message, where the conversation invariably comes off as flippant.
27. Pick up the phone, or use e-mail to engage in a more thoughtful discussion. Never break up with someone via text. Ever!
