Social Etiquette

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At the risk of sounding a bit weird, I often find myself quietly analysing the way people behave in certain situations.  One that’s always intrigued me is the last few minutes of a formal business meeting; the bit after the main purpose of the meeting has been achieved but before the meeting is properly over.

After a polite bit of banter there’s generally a signal from the host that time’s up; ‘Well, thanks for coming over…’ is always a good one.  Then everyone stands up and shuffles round the room trying to shake everyone else’s hand.  Sometimes this involves a lot of hand shaking and close attention is required to avoid inadvertently shaking the hand of a colleague, or shaking the same hand twice, but with practice anyone can do it.

And then the business cards come out, or at least they did until recently when suddenly a new and unexpected twist began to emerge.  Instead of proffering a business card people started to ask if I was on Facebook and then saying things like ‘Great! Let’s link up!’ 

Now don’t get me wrong, I am on Facebook and when asked this question in the pub, or by an old friend, or even by a colleague at work it doesn’t phase me, but I’m starting to get confused.  Is Facebook a social networking site, or is it for business connections, or is it both?

I think I’ve done pretty well to keep my Facebook pages clean and respectable but the bit that always catches me out is other people tagging photos of me.  It’s not that there’s anything improper on there it just that, well, I’m not sure I want everyone in the industry to spend too much time looking at that photo of me and the kids and my sister and her kids and my mum in the bar at the pantomime in Southport last Christmas.  Or the one from that fancy dress dinner where I’m dressed as a biker.  You get the idea… it’s a dilemma.  I’m all for social networking but there are some things that are simply not made for sharing.

No doubt, on the back of this comment, you’ll all want to check out my profile for a giggle, which is fine.  But can I suggest while you’re on there you follow the link to the brand new Kuoni Facebook page – my embarrassment is a small price to pay for traffic!

This brand new page has been designed to encourage people to engage and interact with Kuoni in a different way.  Kuoni’s destination insider knowledge has been brought together to offer expert reviews, tips and inspiration for their next holiday and for more inspirational travel ideas, ‘Facebookers’ have access to i-travel, our interactive on-line travel guide with travel news and in depth features. 

It’s really neat.  If you get the chance, take a look. ‘Derek Jones likes this…’



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