Digital and social media are becoming huge parts of everyday life in the coronavirus pandemic, but surely when it comes to work, standards have to be maintained.

Whenever I have video calls with clients, or attend online group meetings, the approach has to be business first, conducted in a professional way, as if we were in the same room together.

It sounds cool to tell people you were in the garden, relaxing on a sun lounger while on a Skype call with a client, beer in one hand, mobile phone in the other, like something out of The Wolf of Wall Street.

But the reality is very different. Clients have to have trust and confidence in you, particularly in these difficult times, and I would not expect them to part with their hard-earned cash as they watched me top up my tan.

It is also difficult to concentrate fully and gives the impression you aren’t interested.

I recently attended a virtual networking group which was well run and organised, and I was made to feel welcome. The joining instructions and etiquette included dressing as you would for work and being in a professional setting, conscious of your surroundings. 

Apart from anything else, it helped the meeting run smoothly as there were no interruptions or distractions, although one member was admonished for eating their breakfast in front of us. It’s not difficult to see why it wasn’t compelling viewing.

Another instance that got me thinking about just how social social media and everyday life are becoming happened while watching the news the other night.

Gone are the days when news presenters had to deliver bulletins in perfect Queen’s English, but I was astonished to hear ITV News political editor Robert Peston introduce the latest Covid-19 programme with “wotcha”.

A tenacious and experienced journalist whose monotonous, nasally delivery makes him sound bored, Peston usually gets to the heart of the matter.

But launching a serious news programme about the latest coronavirus updates and restrictions as if he was trying to be “down wit’ da kidz” did nothing for his or the programme’s credibility.

Okay, try to engage with the audience, but who did he think was watching . . . Ali G?

That reminds me of someone I interviewed for a reporting job a few years ago. A white, middle-class young man in his early 20s walked into the office, flicked his fingers and announced “I iz here for da job, innit”.

I can’t remember where he was from, but he wasn’t the gangsta he tried to come across as. He was actually very well spoken, although quite cocky and, as I delved into his CV in the interview, he wasn’t really suitable. But, if he hadn’t swaggered in the way he did, he might have had the benefit of the doubt.

Social media is going to play a huge part in the post-Covid-19 world, but being too casual gets the thumbs-down emoji when it comes to business.