The End of Racism...and Editing

You may have heard about what stirred the most recent uproar on Twitter. On Sunday, the Republican National Committee (@GOP) sent out a tweet meant to honor the 58th anniversary of Rosa Parks' refusal to move to the back of the bus. What should have been a lovely tribute to the civil rights activist, turned into a catalyst for an online riot.

Why? The tweet read: "Today we remember Rosa Parks' bold stand and her role in ending racism." Although it was unintended, the tweet clearly implies that racism no longer exists which, unfortunately, is far from true.

While the account did tweet a correction soon after, it was too late. The Twitter community was already on fire, mocking the RNC and their obviously unedited tweet. It didn't take long for a hashtag to develop: #RacismEndedWhen. Twitter users embraced the hashtag and began tweeting sarcastic reasons why the RNC must have believed racism had ended.

140 characters may not seem like enough for revision, but time and time again organizations have landed themselves in hot water for tweeting something inappropriate. Whether it's a press release or a simple tweet, it's important to edit and check your work. Those few characters may be the difference between brand loyalty and brand disapproval.

Typo Tips

It happens to all of us. You think you just crafted the perfect tweet or status, you send it off into the vast space called the Internet and then you re-read it; you made a typo! 

My last major typo was about a month ago, while sharing a blog post on Facebook about a controversial topic - and my mistake was caught by a Facebook user. 

Naturally, I deleted the post entirely within minutes of the initial posting, which also removed the rude comment calling out my mistake. 

I have tried to be typo-free ever since, however, with the hastiness in which we all use social media ,I am bound to make more mistakes.

My example is on a small scale when it comes to typos but what if I were the PR social media manager for a national organization and made the same mistake? Would there be severe consequences? Would I be fired? 

There is a lot to think about as budding PR pros when it comes to typos and grammatical errors. As I wrote in an earlier blog post, grammar mistakes are my biggest pet peeves and clearly do not fly in this industry.  Typos, because they are so easily avoidable, are even worse than grammatical errors. All it takes is some proofreading. 

If you didn't remember to proofread however and find your self in a typo catastrophe, here are three ways to recover from a typo on social media provided by PR Daily: 

1. Own it, quickly: Respond directly, rather than deleting the post. Though a user’s comment can be rude or ugly, a simple “thank you for pointing that out” would have sufficed. Addressed the comment right away, will help to build credibility for the organization.

2. Keep it short and keep it sweet: Though an answer is most certainly warranted, less is more. A big explanation can leave you equally vulnerable. Trying to justify a typo will only lead even more conversation in the public eye. Not a good idea. 

3. Accept it: Even if you didn’t make a mistake, what’s published on social media is fair game and everyone has different tolerance levels (especially when it comes to hot topics like religion and politics). Although you invite people to comment, “like,” and tweet, you take the risk of getting an answer you might not like. Don't take things personally; keep your head held high. 


Have you made a mistake on social media? How did you handle it? Let us know!