Electronic Communication Rules
Is this a good way to start a phone call with someone you don't talk to often?
You: "Hi how are you? Are you free right now?"
Other person: "Yeah, I'm free I guess. Who is this again?"
No, it is not a good way to start a phone call with someone we don't talk to often.
What is cold-calling?
Cold-calling is contacting someone who has not given you their phone number or screen name; it is what telemarketers do.
Why is it a better idea to introduce ourselves when contacting someone we don't talk to often?
It is better to introduce yourself to avoid confusion (e.g., asking ‘Who is this?’), or them ignoring the message because they think we are a stranger
When contacting others, what could be the problem with not using cover stories with people we don’t know well?
They will wonder why you are contacting them; they might even ask “What do you want?”
What could be the problems of cold-calling?
They might think that you’re strange, weird or creepy.
Just because you may have access to someone’s contact information directory does not give you permission to contact that person.
Move on and find someone else to be a friend. Remember friendship is a choice and the other person can also choose not be your friend and it’s a bad choice to keep trying to be friends with someone who does not want to be your friend.
You are working on your Japanese assignment at 11pm when you notice a group member has made a couple of errors. Should you send her a message now so that she can fix it up straight away? Or should you wait? Tell your reasons why
You should avoid calling, video chatting or texting before 10am or after 10pm because you might wake them up. It might be too early or too late
You meet a cool guy at tutoring. You get along great and you both agree to exchange social media to contact one another. You text him:
Hey, this is _____ from tutoring
It was great talking to you the other day about games. We should play online together some day
Hey, not sure if my messages sent correctly so I'm just double checking
We should play online together soon!
Let me know when you are free
I was thinking we can play Valorant
Is this is good or bad example of texting and why
It is a bad example. Remember the two-message rule.
Sometimes when we contact someone, we might not get a hold of them. We should attempt to contact them two times in a row.
We should avoid texting more than two times in the row because the other person may be busy, may not want to talk to you, you may seem creepy or they might think that you’re a stalker
You need to call your photography assignment partner about the assignment. You don't know him well. Show how you would start the phone call
Ask for the person
- "Hi. May I speak to (name)_?"
Say who you are
- "This is ____"
Ask how they are
- "How are you?"
Ask if they can talk
- "Can you talk right now?"
Give a cover story for why you are calling
- "I was calling you to ask about our assignment"
You are having a hard time with your personal life and want to tell your online best friend all about it. Is this a good idea? Why or why not?
It is not the best idea because it is important not to get too personal even if you know the person really well. Remember, even if you trust your best friend, anyone can read, see, or hear what you sent, and you can embarrass yourself.
Since you can’t control who sees, reads, or hears when you send, a good rule is to only send what you are comfortable having anyone see, read, or hear. Save personal stuff for when you are in person.