Essential etiquette tips for Facebook Messenger

A guide has identified important culture clashes that can lead to problems online. Photo / 123RF

Failing to reply within a day, leaving messages on "read" and bombarding people with your thoughts are the worst messaging etiquette mistakes, a new guide by Debrett's has ruled.

The renowned etiquette company has launched a new manual in collaboration with Facebook on how to properly use messaging apps, amid a trend towards increasingly using emoticons and memes instead of formal English words.

Long and rambling stories, oversharing other people's information and ignoring messages are among the most hated habits that persist on online messaging apps, the guide states.

People dislike when their messages are left unanswered in group chats and will check to see if people have seen and ignored their responses by watching for a blue tick, which means "read", Debrett's says.

Simple tasks, such as saying goodbye, acknowledging someone's message and avoiding the use of sarcasm or irony can make the difference between a good conversation and one where the sender is ignored.

Debrett's rules can help to navigate the etiquette of messaging with the "timeless values of courtesy and consideration", the company said.

The guide has identified important culture clashes that can lead to problems online. For example, people from Britain are half as likely as Americans to want to tackle sarcasm in online conversations and ask for clarification. A gap in protocol between older and younger online users means that older people say goodbye, while young people tend to just stop replying.

One in three Britons consider these unwritten manners to be so important that they refuse to respond to bad messaging etiquette, according to figures from Facebook Messenger.

Over half of Britons (52 per cent) admit to ghosting, or ending conversations without warning, while 42 per cent say they have been the victim of that behaviour, a survey of 3500 people in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia showed.

"Ignoring someone's messages constitutes ghosting and leads to anxiety and uncertainty," Debrett's guide said.

"If you want to end an interaction, do so openly but gently, with a brief, polite explanation."