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In today’s high speed world of instant gratification, content is distributed around the clock to keep information seekers satisfied! Even the most proficient typist may encounter a slip of the finger and punch the wrong key. So is a simple mistake enough to stop readers in their tracks? If you share content on the Internet, whether it be through a forum, blog, or other social network, you may be surprised at the significance of a spelling or grammatical error.
The major consequence is that it decreases your credibility as a valuable information source. With so much content to choose from, readers will use obvious spelling and grammar errors as grounds for dismissal and to weed out useless information. If you are spending time creating content, chances are you want people to read it, but even a minor slip like “to instead of too” can turn readers and potential customers away. These types of mistakes are common, but the negative impact it can have on the quality of your content makes double checking your work before publishing an absolute necessity.
Depending on your audience, your readers may not be overly offended if you say or spell something incorrectly, but they might point it out. These types of errors are an open door for humiliation and could lead to a thread of jokes at your expense if spotted in the news feed. Check out these examples that came from “The 65 Best Obnoxious Responses to Misspellings on Facebook” provided by www.someecards.com.
A simple spelling error can become a funny joke but if it relates to your company or organization, it’s definitely not a laughing matter. It happens to the best of us, but whether you publish an everyday typo or grammatical disaster, “damage control” should include the following:
(1) Remove the mistake by deleting the post or updating the blog as soon as possible. The sooner you catch the error, the less likely it will be that the error was noticed or shared.
(2) As one obnoxious response suggested, “Spell check yourself before you wreck yourself.” You may not be able to change what has already been shared but you can work harder to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future. It often helps to have other people read your writing and you should always double check yourself before publishing.
(3) In most cases, it will be best not to draw more attention to the error. You can fix it, post the edited content again, and then hopefully it will be forgotten about. To some readers, your message might have been clear even with the errors present but you may get more exposure the second time around after the corrections!
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