Social Media, E-mails, and My Phone Have All Embarrassed Me

If these techniques don’t stop me from making more mistakes, then from now on, I should write only with a pen.

Have you ever made embarrassing mistakes while using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? What about when you send texts or emails? My latest email and Instagram fiascos convinced me it is finally time to learn how to stop making all these blunders.

Read on, to see if you make the same kinds of mistakes I have. If so, perhaps the solutions I’m about to try may help not just me, but you as well.

My Mistakes

I make mistakes when I send texts

Have you ever composed a text and then sent it to the wrong person? I’ve done this more times than I’d like to admit. (This is uncomfortable if your text is a complaint about the person to whom you accidentally send the text!)

Autocorrect has assisted me on frequent occasions in many not-so-helpful ways.

I make mistakes on social media

I’ve made a bunch of mistakes while trying to acknowledge or comment on other people’s posts. Spelling errors, double comments, neglecting to acknowledge the posts of my dear friends… you name it, I have done it.

Just yesterday, I somehow added the same post to Instagram not once, but THREE times in a row.

How on earth did I do that? The first two times the content just didn’t seem to load, so I kept trying. Later, all three appeared. Before I noticed this, people had liked and added comments on all three identical posts.

Now, I have no idea what to do. Delete two of those three posts, or leave my mistakes for all to see?

I made a blast email mistake

If you subscribe to the emails from my blog, The Most — of Every Moment, you probably wondered why you got an email from me on March 24, with a subject line that said, “Happy St Patrick’s Day.” I bet most of the recipients thought it was old news and never even opened it.

I work hard to craft an interesting weekly newsletter for my blog subscribers. I write a newsy letter and include links to the stories I’ve published on Medium and my lifestyle blog, and interesting stuff I found while surfing the web and living life each week.

I came up with the (apparently not-so-bright or easily executed) idea to change the subject line of these emails every single week. I’d hoped this would make my emails look more interesting when they appear in the subscriber’s inbox.

On March 17th, my email (appropriately) had the subject title, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day.” I thought I had changed that wording to “Happy Wednesday” before my email went out on March 24, but for some reason, that edit didn’t stick. The subject line of the email remained, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day.”

Of course, I didn’t notice this before the email was sent out. How many of my followers do you think would have opened an email when it referred to a holiday that occurred the week before?

Have you made mistakes like me? Here are some ideas we can try:

How to stop making these mistakes

Practice makes perfect, or so they say

• I think it’s more like trial and error until we get it right.
• The important thing is to recognize when and why you made mistakes and try to avoid repeating them in the future.

When it’s time to send an important email, (especially if it has attachments) a test run is never a bad idea

• The free version of MailChimp that handles my blog emails allows me to send a test email to my own email address before sending it to everyone on my list. I need to take advantage of this! If I had, I probably would have caught and corrected the error in the subject line.

Consider disabling the auto-correct feature on your phone.

• Here’s how to disable auto-correct on an iPhone
• and how to disable it on an android phone

Hire a virtual assistant to handle all emails and social media

• I won’t be doing this! My blog doesn’t make enough money to pay that person’s salary. But, for some people or businesses, it can be an excellent solution.

Check, check, and triple-check!

• Always proof-read texts and posts and check to be sure they are being posted correctly according to whatever format you are using.

Avoid sending a message to the wrong person

I googled “How to avoid sending a text to the wrong person” and a whole slew of links came up! Apparently, I’m not alone in committing this faux pas. This problem even extends beyond texts to emails and other forms of electronic communication.

• Here’s an article with helpful tips: How to stop messaging the wrong person.
• Remember: Don’t just assume but always make sure before you hit send that your texts and posts are going to the right person.

Stop rushing to get things done

• Practice good time management. Set aside blocks of time to do the tasks that most challenge you. Try to avoid doing them when you are tired or rushed.

Establish good routines and use checklists.

• I wrote about how to do this here: The Secret to Being More Productive

Learn everything you can about how to use your cell phone, email server, and social media platforms

Here are three articles with some really good explanations and tips:

~ Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Twitter* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) by James Garside

~ Unique and Smart Ways to Use Facebook as a Writer by Aigner Loren Wilson

~ 5 Tips To Avoid Embarrassing Yourself on Social Media, posted by Oxbridge Academy

Most of all, maybe we just need to remember the advice both my kids have given me, at one time or another:

• “Don’t worry, Mom. Nobody cares.”

I’ll paraphrase their words, so the advice sounds a little kinder:

• “Don’t sweat the small stuff. Most of the time, much of it probably goes unnoticed.”

What I’ve decided

If none of these ideas work, and I’m still making silly mistakes…

Someone should just take my phone, my computer, my social media accounts, and my blog away to save me from embarrassing myself.

As long as you don’t mind getting emails with the occasional strangely worded subject line, I think you would enjoy subscribing to The Most — of Every Moment’s weekly newsletter. Click here for the sign-up link.

I originally published a version of this story on my blog, The Most — of Every Moment.

Please keep social distancing, wear a mask, wash your hands, get vaccinated, and stay healthy!