MANNERS 2.0
What is the point of a hashtag like #dogsofToronto? Our manners expert explains
I don’t know how to hash my tag. Can you explain them to me? Why do people use them? They look horrible.
Well, you don’t need to use hashtags, or heck, even like them, but I don’t expect that they are going anywhere anytime soon.
Do you use the coloured flags in your email to sort things by category? Maybe every email about vacation are flagged blue and emails about your home reno project are orange. You might have 15 emails about plumbing and six about windows, but they’re still orange. It’s merely a labelling and classifying system. Hashtags are like this, but with an unlimited number of possibilities.
When you add a hashtag to your post, you’re classifying it so it will be grouped alongside other posts using the same hashtag. One of my favourites is #dog which turns up about 40 million posts on Instagram at the time I’m writing. But if I search #dogsofToronto, there are just shy of 200,000 posts. If you are going to post a photo of a dog (do it! do it!), you could use both of those hashtags so your post will be essentially “filed” using both hashtags.
You’ll see people use hashtags at an event (even weddings, sometimes) so everyone’s posts from the event can be easily searched using the hashtag. It’s the quickest way to group posts, regardless of how many there are.
If a hashtag is really popular, it starts trending, which means it is one of the most commonly used hashtags being used on social media at that particular time. If you’re on Twitter, it’s on the left rail of your desktop version and under the “Explore” section on the bottom of your mobile version. My office is adjacent to the office lunchroom and there is no possibility of it being moved. On a daily basis, one colleague is so annoying during her lunch that it’s driving me insane.
She seems to be oblivious to the annoyance factor, which includes the repeated clanging of cutlery on glass bowls, loud chewing, microwaving smelly food, loud rinsing of dishes, pulling her chair out without lifting it first then leaving it stuck out, and more.
I haven’t said anything because I don’t know the best way to deal with this or where to start since I find it is a general lack of good manners/consideration and not one specific thing. I don’t want to be petty in approaching the boss. Do you have any suggestions?
Sorry to hear about your predicament. I understand your apprehension in approaching your boss, but maybe you can get some peace without having to raise it with them.
In the short term, I’d treat yourself to a new pair of noise-cancelling headphones that you can at least pop on during lunch hour. Pair that with a Spotify or Google Music account, so you can at least enjoy music that isn’t limited to YouTube or your own playlists. Keep mints or candies at your desk to help counter any funky smells.
In the long term, can you plead your case to HR? Is there anyone else who sits in the same area that might be in the same boat? If so, there may be strength in numbers. Perhaps HR can help create a lunchroom etiquette email to go out to all staff, so it feels like a company-wide approach (and not a personal grievance from you). It could touch on a few things like making sure that noises and smells don’t travel to colleagues’ nearby workstations.
If that isn’t an option, you could steel yourself for an awkward conversation with your colleague. Assume the best: that she is a really nice, kind person that has no idea she’s offending you. If you start and end the conversation with explaining how awkward you feel raising this and how she has no idea she’s disrupting your work day, it might go better than you expect. I love my maid of honour but she is such a terrible speaker. Does she have to speak at our wedding?
Wedding toasts can be terrible; we have all sat through cringeworthy speeches during a reception. You know when someone begins with, “I’ve known soand-so for so X number of years,” it’s time to get the popcorn.
Botched wedding toasts take many shapes. Perhaps the speaker helped themselves to a bit too much liquid courage, rambled on for ages or made unfortunate digs at the bride or groom that went beyond good-natured jokes.
No one likes to be humiliated, particularly in public and certainly not at their wedding.
Public speaking can be downright horrific for some people, too. So if your maid of honour doesn’t fit the bill for a speaker, don’t pressure her into it. Perhaps she and the best man could take to the mic together? Etiquette expert Karen Cleveland answers your questions about life online. Send her your questions: karen@mannersaresexy.com