etiquette in the digital era
Mehreen Nazerali Versi (Arusha, Tanzania) is a published author, an avid reader, and poet. She wrote her book; Spectrum of Happiness when she was 18 and published it a few years later. She writes articles covering a number of subject areas, edits content both of academic and non-academic nature. Her aim is to build a community of critical readers who are able to read, question, and reason with content beyond what it says as plain text.
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tiquette? What is that?
In today’s day and age, the art of reading has reduced so much so, that I can say I see it diminishing. So what is etiquette? That is a good question we may hear from today’s kids. Have you been in a situation where you say where are your etiquette and manners? And you all you get are curious looks? Some say why are you saying the same thing with two different words? Well, you are not alone in this. The two words have been interchanged for as long as I can remember in conversations, but yes they mean different things. Etiquettes are a set of rules dictated by society from which you then determine what good practices are, while discipline and manners are defined on a personal level based on individual conduct. So why is it so important now?
The digital era has come with its fair share of challenges and a major one is losing on these etiquettes and discipline. Why so? Phones are in the smallest of palms today! All day every day! Whether it is eating, sitting, or even showering. The device follows us in all our day-to-day tasks. The importance of human communication is being lost but we don’t realize its value. When was the last time you had a meal together as a family, with the policy of no phones on the table? When was the last time you actually just sat and felt bored? When was the last time you gazed outside a window at the traffic or the trees or the birds? All this sounds ancient, right? We need to bring it back now, and we need to do that today!
Boredom is not a bad thing; it gives rise to new inventions and ideas! It helps us see new potential in our surroundings and appreciate the bounties we have. It forces us to communicate with our family and friends in person. It in fact is a very good thing.
Research on logging off has been rising, but only after a lot of downfalls have surfaced. They have given birth to new mental and physical ailments, which did not exist two decades ago. These are mainly to do with the eyes and finger movement. Mental ailments mainly to do with feeling down because we see a glamorous world out there, but that is only the surface after adding a ton of filters and edits.
Only if you knew what that image looked like originally. Our morals, ethics and etiquette dictate that we must respect our elders, and put away gadgets in their presence. We should speak to them and listen to them as that builds our wisdom and knowledge. Google will not be able to give you what they can. Sit as a family and play gadget-free games, the laughs and humour that come up it is not available through Instagram or TikTok, and meet with your extended family from time to time, that is when you will realize that YouTube is not exactly that entertaining.
We have an abundance of treasure outside the digital world that sits abandoned. Let us dig deep to remove this treasure and cherish the many blessings it holds. Do not wait too long as the deeper it goes without being found, it may disappear forever!
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