Yes, common sense! What we should really take for granted is becoming as rare as miracles. People are so hasty in pushing their own agenda that there’s no time for courtesy, for being nice instead of completely selfish and oblivious of the fact you’re addressing a human being.

Never mind the poor texts sent through email, blog comments and all other channels. Never mind the “what’s in it for me part”! That’s a whole other level of refinement. I really mean the basics of social interaction. Like saying hello, using someone’s name, saying thank you and goodbye. Yes, I am talking about making that other person feel a bit more valuable than just a blog name and an email address you’ve just ticked on a long xls file.

This is becoming so rare, it scares me. OK, you have no time to look for my name, although you can see it on every post I publish. I get the pressure of long to-do lists. But use a ” Hello” or a “Hi” or just “Good morning”! Thank me for allotting 5 minutes of my time to your email or message, then drop a copy/paste line such as “Best regards” or “Have a great afternoon!”.

Either PR people lack all common courtesy skills, or they think bloggers are vane, sub-human creatures that don’t need hellos, but need their ego-boosting pat on the back. Something like saying you chose them because they rank well on some fairly popular site. By the way, try to use a site they actually show up as top dogs on!

I tend to believe it’s the first theory, because such thoughtless messages are also sent to journalists, business partners, customers and whoever else they might come in contact with, not just to bloggers! I understand the fast-paced, Internet-bound world we’re living in has turned us into creatures talking in text message and instant messaging slang. But even on Twitter and messenger we stop to say hello!

Let’s return to the basics! Let’s be nice and thoughtful, act like human beings and have a tidbit of common sense! It’s good PR