Manner Monday®: Texting Etiquette

by Carey Sue Vega in Business Etiquette, Etiquette, Manner Monday, Manners

I recently sent one of my best friends a text at 11:30pm.  I was surprised when she responded as she and I are complete opposites when it comes to our most productive hours – I’m a night owl, she’s an early bird.  When she texted me back, I replied with ‘what are you doing awake?’  Her answer, ‘responding to your text’.  Oops.  I obviously woke her, when I had intended for her to read the message the next morning once she was awake.  Yikes.  She politely offered to continue the conversation at 5:00am. :-/

When making a phone call, traditional ‘old-school’ telephone manners dictate that one should never call too early in the morning or too late in the evening.  A good rule of thumb to follow when placing calls to someone’s home is:  wait until after 9:00 a.m. and before 9:00 p.m. during weekdays.  On weekends, extending extra courtesies by not calling someone before 10:00 a.m. is always a thoughtful gesture.

As we all know, advancements in technology have blurred the lines when it comes to telephones and working environments.  It’s hard to determine if someone’s phone number is his or her office phone number or a residential home office, and it seems everyone is (or appears to be) accessible 24/7.   And landline phones are quickly becoming extinct as smartphones have rapidly become the norm.  When talking about this subject with our younger students, they look at me in disbelief and say, ‘does anyone really still use a landline phone?’

So now we’re faced with new issues:  texts/calls at strange hours.  I’m guessing that many of us have been the guilty party {raising hand here} as well as the victim to this circumstance.  Personally, we’ve lost count of how many texts/calls we have received at the most bizarre times:  1:00 a.m., 4:45 a.m., 5:30 a.m., just to name a few.  I’m thinking the ‘traditional telephone manners’ aren’t too far off base and still apply even as technology advances.

Click to Tweet:  ‘Old-school’ rules still apply to modern tech; don’t text/call before 9am or after 9pm. (Note to self!) #MannerMonday http://bit.ly/Txt-Etq

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Thanks for reading!
Carey Sue