"Txting...It can wait"

Distracted driving kills.  Whether it is drinking and driving or texting and driving, if you are not driving and paying attention to the road and your car, you are not only endangering yourself, you are a danger to others on the road.

AT&T has been committed to bring awareness and helping prevent distracted driving.

Below is a link to a video that AT&T shot last week during a teen safety fair in Washington D.C., sponsored by a DC TV station and the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) — a network of national associations and federal agencies focused on youth safety and health. (You may recall, last May AT&T announced a $1 million commitment in the fight against texting and driving. That commitment involves a contribution to NOYS to develop and train student ambassadors on anti-texting-while-driving education. The students then host summits on the topic within their schools and hometowns throughout the school year.)

As part of the D.C. teen safety fair, AT&T had a TWD Simulator on site to give teens a first-hand experience at just how much of a distraction texting and driving can be.  As you’ll see from the video, the simulator is a full-sized car. Kids get in the simulator, put on goggles and start driving, using a heads-up street display in their goggles. They then send a text message and the inevitable result is the kid crashes into a car or a pedestrian.

Link to TWD Simulator:  http://silo.mediasilo.com/weblink/FBF9900EF2686B78BA344B8D06D55ECC/22455/

Background on our “Txting While Driving … It Can Wait” campaign:

While distracted driving is an issue for all motorists, teenagers are particularly at risk.  Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and the proliferation of distracted driving among teens is a huge challenge.

That’s why AT&T”s “Txting…It Can Wait” public awareness campaign is especially focused on educating teens about the risks of texting while driving and spreading the message that text messages can wait.  Not even red lights, professionals say, signal a “safe” time to text.

As part of its campaign, AT&T has developed a powerful documentary called “The Last Text” that examines the real world consequences of texting and driving.  Each of the eight individuals in the video — whose lives have been impacted tragically by texting while driving — volunteered their stories to help educate Americans — particularly youth — on the risks of texting behind the wheel.  The documentary can be viewed online on the AT&T “It Can Wait” website and on the AT&T YouTube page.

Texting is so dangerous because it takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 5 seconds.  At 55 mph, that’s like driving the length of a football field completely blind.  Studies show a driver’s reaction time is doubled when reading or sending a text, and that motorists sending a text while driving are 23 more times likely to be in a crash.

Sexting has become a recent trend with mobile users, as nearly 40% of teens reporting sexting at least once or consistently. Sexting is when one person sends a nude, or sexually suggestive picture/text of themselves to another person or a group. The consequences of sexting range from nothing, to serious. For parents, the worries are real and dangerous.

Child Pornography

The primary concern for parents is sexting that involves suggestive photos, especially nudes. Several teens have been charged with ownership of child pornography. That’s because even if two students under age 18 are dating, possession of nude photos of individuals under the age of 18 constitutes child pornography. In some cases, teens who have snapped pictures of themselves have been charged with “manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography.” Those receiving the pictures have faced, and been sentenced, to charges of possession. Convictions lead to life-long registration on sexual offender lists.

Digital World

Once the pictures have been taken, parents have more issues to worry about, namely digital records. After pictures have been taken digitally, they immediately enter a digital world where they can become permanent. One person can send the picture to another and so on until it’s been shared across the digital world. It can all start with one phone. With chat rooms and other websites, it’s easy for pedophiles and other predators to misrepresent age, sex, and location. Teens and kids are constantly connected to the web. Not only can those pictures make their way to illegal websites, they can also make their way to strangers.

Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and other social media sites are like online directories for everyone and anyone. It can be easy anyone to assume a false identity. With a couple clicks on the phone, a picture gets into the hands of the wrong person.

Psychological Factors

There are many reasons why teens take part in sexting and most of them are a new take on the old world of flirting and courting. Many teens send the texts as flirtatious messages, to boost popularity, or because of peer pressure. They can also include forms of sexual harassment, or bullying.

The ramifications for of this are undocumented in terms of sexting, but the potential psychological issues of self-esteem are wide and concerning. Adolescents and teens are entering a stage of life where body-image and self-esteem are developing. Bullying, harassment, and derogatory comments can degrade and damage morale. The effects of this can last for years or decades.

By sexting, teens put their bodies out there to be judged and critiqued. While their bodies may be healthy, teens use any chances to tease or insult another, especially if it means a chance to elevate themselves in a social clique, or in popularity. The self-esteem issues created by pictures, or suggestive language, being misconstrued, getting into unwanted hands or from unwarranted comments, can devastate teens and lead to suicide.

Cautionary Steps

Beyond eliminating and forbidding the use of all digital devices, there are other measures that parents can take to protect their teens.

The first is establishing a good relationship. Studies consistently show that parents who foster good relationships with their children have more influence on them than the media or peer pressure.

A strong relationship makes it easier for parents to approach kids about sexting and its consequences. Being honest with children about the potential legal consequences, psychological factors, and personal ethics and morals behind sexting is a good way to help them understand its seriousness.

To instill that seriousness, parents should monitor their child’s activities and friends. Much of sexting in teenagers is caused by peer pressure or social interactions. Supporting them in making the right decisions, and spending less time from those who are sexting, may be the best way to keep them safe.

Special contributor:  Steven Farrell is the administrator of ReversePhoneLookup.org, the best reverse phone directory online.

S-E-X, this is one of the most difficult and sensitive subjects parents dread to talk to their kids about, but it is also just as critical.  Now let’s compound it with technology and teens and we can create sexting!

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmo Girl have recently released the results of a new survey.  Results from this new survey show that 21% of teen girls and 18% of teen boys have sent/ posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves. What is going on with teens, tech, and sex?

Tips for parents from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy include:

1. Talk to your kids about what they are doing in cyberspace. Just as you need to talk openly and honestly with your kids about real life sex and relationships, you also want to discuss online and cell phone activity. Read more.

2. Know who your kids are communicating with. Of course it’s a given that you want to know who your children are spending time with when they leave the house. Read more.

3. Consider limitations on electronic communication.The days of having to talk on the phone in the kitchen in front of the whole family are long gone, but you can still limit the time your kids spend online and on the phone. Read more.

4. Be aware of what your teens are posting publicly. Check out your teen’s MySpace, Facebook and other public online profiles from time to time. This isn’t snooping-this is information your kids are making public. Read more.

5. Set expectations. Make sure you are clear with your teen about what you consider appropriate “electronic” behavior. Read more.

More articles of interest:

Should you read your teen’s diary?
Should you read your teen’s emails and text messages?
Is honestly the best policy?
Not my kid

Nastygrams: Think before you send

In Florida, SafeFlorida.net was created to help prevent cyber crimes, educate parents, assist teens and more in the growing digital cyberspace.

Be an educated parent, you will have safer teens.

• Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month. One in three send more than 100 texts a day (or more than 3,000 texts a month.)
• 15% of teen texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month.
• Boys send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day.
• Teen texters ages 12-13 typically send and receive 20 texts a day.
• 14-17 year-old texters typically send and receive 60 text messages a day.
• Older girls who text are the most active, with 14-17 year-old girls typically sending 100 or more messages a day or more than 3,000 texts a month.
• 22% of teen texters send and receive just one to 10 texts a day, or 30 to 300 texts a month.

Is this a time parents need to pick and choose issues of concern?  Yes and no.  There are many other more serious issues such as drug abuse or gang relations, however if your teen is obsessed or addicted to texting, it may be time to intervene.  Give your teen limits, and be sure there is a time that the phones are simply turned off.

Having consequences in place and following through with them can help convey to your teen that you are serious.  Teens need to learn how to “talk” to others outside of texting. Parents should be concerned that all the texting may alter their ability to communicate effectively.

When it is time to apply to colleges or interview for a job, will they have the verbal skills they need? At last glance, you can’t text your way into employment or into a college.

In Florida, there is a bill in legislation that will ban texting and driving.  Although many know the  dangers of texting and driving, many still do it.  Stress to your teens, no text is worth dying over.  Encourage your teens to take the pledge and join thousands of others that are putting the cell phone aside as they drive.

Be an educated parent, you will have safer and healthier teens.

Watch video and read more on Teen Cell Phone Addiction.

The national campaign features true stories and the text message that was sent or received before someone’s life was altered, or even ended,because of texting and driving.

Stop what you’re doing. Take out your wireless device. Read out loud the last text message you received. Would reading or responding to that text message while driving be worth causing a serious accident? When you look at it that way, there’s no text that couldn’t wait.

AT&T* is launching today a new campaign to raise awareness about the risks of texting and driving and remind all wireless consumers, especially youth, that text messages can – and should – wait until after driving.

The national campaign features true stories and the text message that was sent or received before someone’s life was altered, or even ended, because of texting and driving. By featuring real stories, the campaign will demonstrate how insignificant a text message is compared to the potentially dire consequences of reading or responding while driving.

For example, in one of the television spots, the text “Where u at?” flashes on the screen and a mother says, “This is the text my daughter was reading when she drove into oncoming traffic.” The ad also includes the message “No text is worth dying over” and the campaign’s tagline, “Txtng & Drivng … It Can Wait.”

“We explored several campaign concepts but we didn’t have our ‘aha!’ moment until we asked one of our focus groups to take out their devices and read the last text they received,” said Cathy Coughlin, senior executive vice president and global marketing officer for AT&T. “When we asked if that particular message was worth the potential risk of reading while driving at 65 mph, you could have heard a pin drop. That’s when we realized the message ‘it can wait’ was effective in educating consumers about the dangers of texting while driving.”

The new campaign will span print, radio, TV and online advertising – which will be rolled out in the coming months – as well as in-store signage, collateral and online billing. In addition, parents, high school educators and, most importantly, youth, can now visit AT&T’s online resource center www.att.com/txtngcanwait. The site includes downloadable information about texting while driving such as a parent-teen pledge; a teen-teen pledge; a poster; a brochure; safety tips; and more.

AT&T also has launched a Facebook application, which can be found at www.facebook.com/att. Friends can share this application with one another to encourage each other to take the pledge to not text and drive. AT&T will also be promoting the pledge via a “twitition” on Twitter to ask followers to rally around the cause. You can follow @ShareATT on Twitter. In addition, to honor those taking the pledge, AT&T will contribute $250,000 to one or more non-profit organizations focused on youth safety and will announce the selected non-profit organization(s) at the start of National Youth Safety Month in May.

“While our campaign is important for all drivers, we’re particularly focused on youth,” said Coughlin.

In September 2009, AT&T announced a commitment to raise awareness about the issue of texting and driving through a multifaceted initiative to educate employees, customers and the general public about using wireless devices safely while driving.

Since then, AT&T has revised its wireless and motor vehicle policies to more clearly and explicitly prohibit texting and driving, impacting its approximately 280,000 employees; incorporated a don’t-text-and-drive message on the plastic clings that protect handset screens on the majority of new devices sold in AT&T’s more than 2,200 stores; and will integrate campaign messaging in AT&T catalogs, in-store signage and collateral, bills, e-mails, newsletters and more.

By using multiple touch points, AT&T expects the campaign to reach millions.

* AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T – News) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. AT&T offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse^SM and AT&T | DIRECTV^SM brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive organizations are known for their leadership in directory publishing, advertising sales and interactive local search applications. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies.

About Philanthropy at AT&T

For over 25 years, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation have been committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its philanthropic initiatives and partnerships, AT&T supports projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; and address community needs. In 2009, nearly $155 million was contributed through corporate, employee, and AT&T Foundation-giving programs.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow  news on Twitter at @ATTNews. On Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about consumer and wireless services or at www.facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.

WebSafety has developed a software that alerts parents before danger happens (if children are contacted by someone they don’t know [they say 700,000 predators are online everyday grooming kids, trying to find their next victims] and if your child receives ‘LMIRL’ = let’s meet in real life, you’ll get alerted in real time, if they’re being cyber bullied, stalked, or being asked to send nude pics [AKA ‘sexting’ which becomes child pornography once trafficked from friend to friend.]

With the news of the recent 13 year old suicide of Hope Witsell in Florida, which is releated to sexting and bullying, it is imperative parents keep 10 steps ahead of their kids and teens technically.

Zig Ziglar Agrees to Market Blindspot Alert`s Two Products, WebSafetyPC and CellSafety

DALLAS–(Business Wire)–Blindspot Alert, Inc. (the “Company”) (OTCBB:BSAL), a developer and marketer of software that makes cell phone usage and the Internet safer for families, today announced the association of Zig Ziglar and Ziglar, Inc. to support and promote the marketing of the Company`s two products: WebSafetyPC and CellSafety.

“My life and career have been spent in service to family values,” Zig Ziglar said from his home in Dallas, Texas, “and like many parents and grandparents, I’ve wondered how we can better protect our children from predator invasions over the Internet. Likewise, texting while driving has become a major risk for teenage drivers, increasing the likelihood of having an accident by as much as 23 times. When our family reviewed the WebSafetyPC and CellSafety products, we knew we wanted it; and we want everyone we care about to have it, too.”

President of Ziglar, Inc., Tom Ziglar says, “This really is a remarkable technology, and one that every family with a computer in their home or a person who drives while using a cell phone should have.”

The Company`s President Clifton Jolley says, “Having Zig as a proponent of the WebSafetyPC and CellSafety products is gratifying. Together we are committed to protecting children from Internet predators and from the risks associated with cell phones and driving. Like many of us, the Ziglar family has worried over the risks posed by these technologies; but until we developed the technology, Internet and cell phone usage has been a frustrating task for most parents. WebSafetyPC and CellSafety create a safety net to keep kids and adults from falling into bad habits such as texting while driving and from being contacted by cyberbullies and predators.

The Company`s two main products are:

CellSafety all but eliminates the risk of texting while driving by turning off
the texting feature at a predetermined speed. Parents also have the ability to
create “test-free zones,” such as schools, where cheating by texting is an
increasing problem. “Another great feature,” Tom Ziglar says, “is the FindMe
feature that lets me find my cell-phone-enabled children.”

WebSafetyPC provides many of the features available on CellSafety phones such as alerts for cyber bullying, sexting, and predator alerts. The president of Mothers Against Predators says of her experience, “The predator who attacked my daughter didn`t come in through a window…he came in through my computer.”

WebSafetyPC and CellSafety provide the following features as demonstrated by these two charts:

https://www.mywebsafety.com/Shared/WebSafetyProductComparisonv.1.4.pdf
https://www.mywebsafety.com/Shared/CellSafetyProductComparisonv.1.4.pdf

National Press:
http://www.mywebsafety.com/Site/video.asp?isv=3&Pin=48238&SN=ChildSafety

For more info, please see:
http://www.MyWebSafety.com/ChildSafety

Source: Connect Safely

Though teens make little distinction between fixed and mobile socializing, we adults still do. So here are some basic ideas for safe socializing on phones as well as the Web that we hope will work for both generations. 

Smart socializing. Use the same good sense about what you post from your phone as from a computer. Once they’re posted, text, photos, and video are tough to take back, can be copied and pasted elsewhere, and are up there pretty much forever. Think about the people in them (including you!). Reputations are at stake, and even more if nudity or sex is involved.

Bullying by phone. Because people socialize on cellphones as much as online, cyberbullying can be mobile too. Treat people on phones and the Web the way you would in person, and the risk of being bullied goes down.

Sexting: It’s the same on phones as on the Web – do not take, send, post or even store on your phone nude photos of anyone under 18. You could be charged with production, distribution, or possession of child pornography, a serious crime. You could also be subjected to jokes, bullying, blackmail, expulsion from school, loss of a job, etc. and the images can circulate forever.

The value of “presence.” If you do a lot of texting, consider the impact that being “elsewhere” might be having on the people around you. Your presence during meals, at parties, in the car, etc. is not only polite, it’s a sign of respect and appreciated.

Down time is good. Constant texting and talking can affect sleep, concentration, school, and other things that deserve your thought and focus. Real friends understand there are times you just need to turn off the phone – harassment can happen between midnight and morning too.

Social mapping. Most cellphones now have GPS technology and there are a growing number of services that allow friends to pinpoint each other’s physical location. If you use such a service, do so only with friends you know in person, and get to know the service’s privacy features!

Reprinted with permission from Connect Safely

Learn more at http://www.connectsafely.org

Source: ConnectSafely.org

These tips for parents about safety on the social Web are based on the latest research from the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire (with input from our colleagues there) at ConnectSafely.

Be reasonable and try to set reasonable expectations. Pulling the plug on your child’s favorite social site is like pulling the plug on his or her social life. Instead of being protective, it can shut down communication and send kids “underground” where they’re more at risk. It’s too easy for them to set up free blogs and profiles from anywhere, including friends’ houses or even a cell phone.

Talk with your kids about how they use the services. They, not news reports or even experts, are the ones to consult about their social-Web experience. Help them understand basic safety guidelines, such as protecting their privacy (including passwords), not harassing peers, never talking about sex with people they don’t know, avoiding in-person meetings with people they “meet” online, and taking care in what they post – because anything people put online can be grabbed, reworked, and used against them.

Support critical thinking and civil behavior because no laws or parental-control software can protect better than a child’s developing good sense about safety and relationships. Research shows that kids who are aggressive and mean online toward peers or strangers are at greater risk of becoming victims themselves. So teach them to be good citizens and friends online as much as offline.

Consider requiring Internet use in a high-traffic place in your home – not in kids’ rooms – to help you stay aware of their online time. This way, you can encourage a balance between online time and their offline academic, sports, and social times. Know that there are also many ways kids can access the Internet away from home, including on many mobile phones and game players.

Try to get your kids to share their profiles and blogs with you, but be aware that they can have multiple accounts on multiple services. Use search engines and the search tools on social-networking sites to search for your kids’ full names, phone numbers and other identifying information. You’re not invading their privacy if they’re putting personal info in public “places” online. If their pages are private, that’s a good thing, but it’s even better if they share it with you.

If you’d like to print these tips out, here’s a PDF version.

Reprinted with permission from ConnectSafely.org.

Posted on Examiner.com also.

SafeTeens.com is a website full of fantastic tips, articles, and resources to keep your teens safe online, on their cell phones, texting tips and more.  It also offers “Guidelines for Parents” which every parent should take the time to read.

Back to school is on its’ way – here is an exerpt on cell phone safety tips for your teens.

Cell Phone Safety Tips

Reposted from ConnectSafely.org

Mobile safety in general. Just as in chat rooms and social sites, kids need to think about who they text and talk with. They should never text/talk about sex with strangers. Phones should only be used to communicate with people they know in the real world.

Bullying by phone. Since young people’s social lives increasingly fold in cell phones as well as the Web, cyberbullying and harassment have gone mobile too. Talk with your kids about how the same manners and ethics you’ve always taught them apply on phones and the Web as in “real life.”

Mobile social networking. Many social sites have a feature that allows users to check their profiles and post comments from their phones. That means some teens can do social networking literally anywhere, in which case any filter you may have installed on a home computer does nothing to block social networking. Talk with your teens about where they’re accessing their profiles or blogs from and whether they’re using the same good sense about how they’re social networking on their phones.

Social mapping. More and more cell phones have GPS technology installed, which means teens who have these phones can pinpoint their friends’ physical location – or be pinpointed by their friends. Talk with your kids about using such technology and advise them to use it only with friends they know in person.

Media-sharing by phone. Most mobile phones we use today have cameras, some videocams – and teens love to share media with friends on all types of mobile devices. There is both a personal-reputation and -safety aspect to this. Talk with your teens about never letting other people photograph or film them in embarrassing or inappropriate situations (and vice versa). They need to understand their own and others’ privacy rights in sharing photos and videos via cell phones.

‘Smart phones.’ We’ve already been over many smart- or 3G-phone features above, but remember they usually include the Web. That means more and more people can access all that the Web offers, appropriate or not, on their phones as well as computers. Mobile carriers are beginning to offer filtering for the content available on their services, but they have no control over what’s on the Web. Parents of younger kids might want to consider turning off Web access and turning on filtering if they’re concerned about access to adult content.

Text messaging costs. On some mobile services, a single text message can cost 15 cents to send and a couple of cents to receive. Check to see if your carrier has flat-rate texting that can be included in your child’s or family’s service plan; otherwise your teens could be using up their entire college fund.

Source: Guideposts Magazine

Pls B Consider8!

How to keep good manners alive in the digital age

By Patricia Rossi, Safety Harbor, Florida
August, 2009

I get questions all the time about rules of etiquette in this tech-crazy world. Lord knows, things have changed. But not everything.

I always go back to what my grandma taught me (and she thought Blackberries grew on bushes!): Good manners never go out of style. Common courtesy most often is just common sense.

Here are some tips to help you navigate the digital world with style, grace and, most important, consideration for others.

Don’t Cell Yell
What is it about cell phones that make us think the person on the other end is stone deaf?

Be aware of others’ personal space when you’re talking. Phone conversations are meant to be private, regardless of where you’re taking the call.

Everyone has a cell-phone horror story. Once I was in a quiet Japanese garden only to have the peace shattered by someone’s techno funk ring tone. I wanted to toss it right into the pond of tranquility.

Try to keep your phone on vibrate or off. That’s the best way to avoid having it go off at the most embarrassing time. Never use a cell phone in meetings, church, theaters or when someone is talking to you, unless it’s an emergency—and I mean a real emergency. If your phone does ring, you don’t have to answer it. Honey, phones have voice mail for a reason.

If you must talk on the phone in a public place, excuse yourself, speak quietly and briefly. If possible, stand at least 10 feet away from others.

Don’t share intimate details of your life where everyone can hear them. Even if you don’t mind, I can almost guarantee you it’s too much information for those around you—or should be.

Look before you text
In London so many people were getting injured while walking and texting that the city started padding the lamp posts. I kid you not.

And recently the coach of a professional sports team called me in a fit because his team—even the assistant coaches—were constantly texting while he was talking.

It’s fun to text. But people’s addiction to texting isn’t funny. Last September in a California train accident that killed 25 people, the engineer was found to have been texting seconds before his train went through a red light.

As the Bible says, there’s a time and a place for everything. In short, nix the multitasking. The same rules for cell-phone usage apply to texting.

Plus, you’ll perform better when you’re concentrating on the job at hand and you’ll be less stressed, to boot. It is flat-out rude to text when you’re supposed to be paying attention to the person or persons you’re with. (There should be a law against it at the dinner table.)

Texting is for casual conversation, so no sending formal invitations, “I’m breaking up with you,” or thank-you notes via text messaging.

Don’t be a text heckler—sending so many texts that you become annoying or with so many abbreviations that they can’t be deciphered.

Think before you send
Recently I was called in to advise a company because so many of its managers were forever hitting “reply all” on e-mails and sending backhanded compliments directed at one person, angering the recipient, spreading ill will and wasting everyone’s time.

Few things waste more time and cause more hurt feelings than e-mail.

When a group e-mail is sent out and you need to reply to one person, don’t hit “reply all.” Make subject lines to the point. Put your reply at the top of
e-mails. And if your e-mail is super short, you can put it in the subject line only with the abbreviation “eom,” for end of message.

Remember, considera­tion for others is key. Hunkering down behind a computer screen gives some people a false sense of anonymity and causes them to behave in a way they might not be proud of.

Remember, once you hit send, you can’t get those words back. Don’t dash off an e-mail when you’re upset or overstressed. Back when letters were handwritten, the best advice was to get your angry thoughts down on paper then throw them away. It’s still good advice in a digital world. Don’t be afraid to hit “delete.”

E-mail is best for short messages, like setting an appointment or following up on a conversation. Otherwise, face-to-face meetings are preferable. There’s much less chance for misunderstanding and a far better opportunity for real dialogue.

I’ve been in plenty of offices where everyone worked within several feet of each other but never talked one on one. Get out of your chair. You’ll think better if you get your blood moving.

Sometimes, of course, e-mail is your only option for introducing yourself. The same formalities of how to write a letter apply. Address the person politely by their surname, until they respond with their first name. Use spell check, but don’t rely on it alone. Write in complete sentences with organized thoughts. And please don’t pepper your more formal e-mails with abbreviations, emoticons or dancing graphics.

Thanks for (not) sharing
Growing up in the South I was taught there are some things you just don’t share with others. Boy, how things have changed!

With millions upon millions of people using sites like Twitter and Facebook to chronicle everything from what they ate for breakfast to…oh, my!!!, privacy seems so old-fashioned.

Before you post that crazy party photo from the weekend or go off on a rant about your boss, think about whether it’s really something you want the whole world to know. Is it something you’d be proud to have published on the front page of your newspaper? Because once you post something on the internet, that’s essentially what you’ve done—only to a worldwide audience, permanently.

Most employers now routinely check a job applicant’s internet footprint as part of the hiring process. Risqué photos, off-color jokes and tirades about work are a sure path to a rejection letter.

Many social-networking sites—like Facebook and MySpace—offer privacy controls that shield your posts from the public. For some reason, most people don’t use them, but you should. Even with your friends, think about what you want to post for everyone to read versus something that is better shared through a private message.

Before sending something out into cyberspace, I always ask myself, What would Grandma have thought about this?

One last thing—social networking, while great for staying in touch, is not a substitute for real intimacy. You can’t actually hold a dear one’s hand on the web. Make sure you don’t become isolated in a digital world. Technology can make it both easier and harder to really communicate.

When Grandma needed advice she would turn to the Bible, which offers the best lesson on good manners ever published: “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.”

Re­member that verse and you’ll never go wrong, even on the internet.