I feel so bad when I do a post on Facebook then, some time later on, when I read what I wrote, I see a typo. Quickly I would use the edit feature to fix that, hoping that those who saw it would have realised that it was an error of the finger and not one of the mind.
I came across an article on the site inklyo.com which addresses faulty language used on social media and how it can have a negative impact on those who are not careful with their posts. Have a read.
Be Very Careful How You Post Online
These days, with social media being a major part of our everyday lives, how you present yourself in writing is increasingly important. If you don’t pay careful attention to the quality of the posts you make online you could be hurting yourself in ways you haven’t even thought of, or can’t even imagine.
A Good Example of This on Facebook
A post appeared recently wherein the author had decided to go into some sort of rant about how they were very upset with people who used animal and cartoon images as their Facebook profile picture. This person wanted only photos of the actual person to be used, and they were therefore going to “unfriend” anyone on who used an image other than their own photo. In this case that the person’s little rant also made numerous disparaging remarks about the characters and motives of the people who don’t use their own photo on Facebook.
The real kicker was that the individual’s rant was absolutely riddled with errors in basic English spelling and grammar.
What would your reaction to this post be? Exactly.
When a post seems to be bordering on illiterate, it loses all credibility. Whatever point they were trying to make about the FB profile photos suddenly became meaningless at best, and hypocritical at worst. And you wouldn’t be the only one to dismiss this person based on the poor quality of that post.
But here’s the most important part: whether you intend for it or not, your post may well be seen by thousands of people worldwide.
Yes, thousands. Even if you have your settings updated to maximum privacy. Anyone within your approved circle of friends can screenshot what you say and post it anywhere else.
Employers are Watching
Prospective
employers routinely check out the Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin
profiles of job applicants. If you have a habit of making posts with
spelling and grammar errors (because it’s only social media, right?),
chances are that this will be noticed and taken into account by hiring
managers. Any job that requires at least high school graduation will
require good writing skills.
College Admission Staff Are Watching
Admissions staff at universities and colleges also check out the online posts of applicants. Do you want to present yourself as semi-illiterate to a college or university? The worst thing about this is that if you get “screened out” by applications staff for your poor social media posts, you’ll never even know that this was the main reason you didn’t make the cut!
Prospective Dates Are Watching (Really!)
In Aziz Ansari’s book “Modern Romance” (Penguin Press, 2015), he states that poorly written text messages are a turn-off and sometimes a deal-breaker for many people during the initial phases of dating.
Why?
First, you would be surprised as to how many people claim to have college-level education and then post a profile that is rife with errors in spelling or grammar. So it makes the prospective date wonder: are you telling the truth about your education? If not, what else are you lying about?
Second, if you’re not willing to put your best foot forward when you’re actively trying to impress a date – whether it be for a short-term relationship or a spouse for life – it indicates you’re unlikely to put any effort into the relationship. And who wants to waste time on that?
Always, always have a grammar and spell checker program installed and running whenever you compose any type of social media post or text. Also, after drafting even the shortest of messages, STOP and read it over BEFORE you send it. Correct any errors and edit it for clarity if necessary.
