Call me old fashioned, but I am a big believer in etiquette. Of course we are only human and sometimes we forget our etiquette. As women, we often juggle so much that when one of the balls we juggle falls down, we often don’t even notice.

Believe me, I know the meaning of a full-plate. I’ve recently been dealing with working one full-time job in PR and one part-time job in consulting, running a blog and a house, keeping up relationships, feeding a reading addiction, and learning HTML on the side. Needless to say I have a few emails I’ve forgotten to reply to, a few phone calls I need to return…etc. But I always try my best to be mindful of how I am treating others. Even on my busiest day, my door is always open to friends, and there are probably a few hand-written notes from me en route. I have learned to forgot the rude people I have come across and focus on being nice anyway.

Below are a few little etiquette rules that I follow, and I swear by!

Unless you are Ashton Kutcher, there is no reason why you can’t follow a friend back on Twitter. If someone is nice enough to subscribe to 140 characters or less of whatever you have to say, whenever you want to say it, consider it a tiny miracle, one that should be reciprocated.

If you think you are too good to practice this remember, Yoko Ono follows back all her followers. That’s right, I can proudly say that Yoko Ono follows me. and that makes me feel really good. So sexydog368739, there is no reason why you can’t follow back as well.

(Photo: Glitter Guide)

Mentions, direct messages, tweets, whatever it may be- acknowledge it!

It looks really tacky that you can’t respond when someone takes the time to reach out, but you have time to post a BuzzFeed about cats dressed as lizards.

If the inquiry is such that you need time to deliver a well thought out response, say that! Don’t leave them hanging.

The same goes for when someone tags you in a status or a photo. Take the time to “like” or respond and show them that you care. Oprah reads every letter she gets, even if it takes a year, so keep that in mind next time your former college roommate asks you how you life is going.

If someone wants to debate you over social media, don’t respond. There are trolls lurking everywhere and it makes them happy to engage people in conflict, don’t give them the satisfaction.

I am lucky enough to have a great group of friends that read all my blogs, give me feedback and cheer me on. It helps me stay motivated when I feel discouraged. I try to pay that forward, so when a friend launches a new blog or starts a tumblr for their wedding I follow it and I try to be their biggest fan.

So many people in the world stand in the shadows waiting to criticize, but so few actually take the time to create something. Starting this blog wasn’t easy and I often stay up late researching topics, or give up my weekends to write posts. So knowing that someone actually cares makes it all worth while!

I am passionate about kindness and I love that social media allows us to reach out to people who we don’t get to see everyday. By being kind and following these etiquette rules, I hope to nurture and grow my relationships over my lifetime.

Thanks for reading and please share your own etiquette rules/stories below!