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Ash Pollard: How to survive a social media fail

Ash Pollard is best known as one of Australia’s most gifted home cooks. But underneath those signature spiral blonde curls, the television personality and radio-host has a noggin full of knowledge that she’ll be sharing exclusively with Be.

Over the next 12 weeks she’ll be sharing her top tips on how to tackle life’s trickiest situations— from what to do during an awkward encounter with an ex, to surviving a dreaded social media slip-up.

This week, she’s telling us how to survive a social media fail.

This week Ash Pollard teaches us how to survive a social media fail. Source: Getty
This week Ash Pollard teaches us how to survive a social media fail. Source: Getty

Social media. At the best of time we love it and at the worst of times we just downright hate it.

And if you haven’t witness one, perhaps you’ve made one yourself. A social media blunder. How utterly embarrassing!

I’ve witnessed a few and even made a couple of social media blunders myself.

I’ve even had to apologise on a national scale, using media outlets, such as newspapers and magazines as my means of communication to do so (talk about embarrassing). Ah well, we all make mistakes!

We can all make mistakes on social media. Source: Getty
We can all make mistakes on social media. Source: Getty

Generally, a social media mishap happens because you’re rushing, an accidental miscommunication or something simply coming out the wrong way. Or it might have just been a calculated way of gaining attention.

For arguments sake, let’s ignore the latter and assume it was a genuine mistake and work around that.

Acknowledge your mistake

If you are a business this really must happen. You need to acknowledge your mistake ASAP. It’s all about taking ownership that you may have slipped up.

People will be watching and waiting for a response and a reaction to your particular social media blunder.

Try and acknowledge it if you make a mistake. Source: Getty
Try and acknowledge it if you make a mistake. Source: Getty

It’s likely you’ll get called out. Someone will notice, share your blunder and throw shade This can be so awkward… you’ll probably feel at this point in time you can never come back from it!

Same goes if it is your personal profile, but possibly on a smaller scale.

As much as you might be embarrassed and not want to admit your faults, just take a big slice of that humble pie and acknowledge it, whatever your mistake might have been. Pie tastes good anyway, so it’s a win win.

To censor or not to censor…

I delete negative comments on my social media because I absolutely won’t stand for it.

But if it is relevant criticism like a spelling correction or perhaps I’ve said something in a caption or posted an offensive picture (totally hypothetical just FYI!) and someone is taking the time to correct me, I’ll leave that comment as is (sometimes. Ha!).

I don’t think it’s a bad thing to censor some people’s comments if they are hurtful, trolling or trying to ruin your brand.

Social media can be unbearably frustrating at times. Source: Getty
Social media can be unbearably frustrating at times. Source: Getty

Should you be sorry?

Again, it all depends if it’s a personal account or a business account.

Let’s take the whole blackface shemozzle. You’ve gotta be 100% sorry for that regardless. No arguments. If it’s a spelling mistake or you’ve written someone name incorrectly, just edit it – no need for a song and dance.

Make sure you apologise for your social media outburst if you have one. Source: Getty
Make sure you apologise for your social media outburst if you have one. Source: Getty

Apologise to your friends and followers if you mess up big time though. Try doing a specific post dedicated to the apology.

It might’ve just been a bad day when you went on that rant and expressed your inner most feelings about your ex, boss or friend… I don’t know! But you’ve got to think to yourself, ‘was that REALLY necessary?’. The answer is, ‘probably not’.

Just apologise for your inconsiderate outburst and move on.

Just don’t!

Here’s a thought: Just don’t make the mistake in the first place!

Check yourself before you wreck yourself y’all.

Really consider any kind of picture, caption, phrase, emoji, hashtag TWICE (even three times) before you post.

Re-read everything at least three times before it goes live. I always do!

Always check everything twice before you post it. Source: Getty
Always check everything twice before you post it. Source: Getty

At the end of the day, just make sure you learn from your mistakes. We all make them.

As much as it may have been an absolute ordeal for you to go through, you made it through the other side and as a result you now have the experience and the know-how to never make the same social media blunder again!

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