Don’t Press Send

How many times have you regretted hitting the send button for an e-mail, text, Facebook post, tweet, or any other social media post or message? We have all done it many times, you have probably done it a few times already today. We’ve then had to spend the time explaining what we meant to say. You are typing out what you really want to say (and in some cases what should be said) but you know full well it’s not what needs to be said and could have been said differently.

Back in 2011, Coach Herm Edwards spoke to the NFL rookies at a seminar and one of his key points to them about social media was “Don’t Press Send.” We’ve all seen the video over the years, if you haven’t do a quick search on YouTube and you’ll find it. It’s a great point to make especially in today’s world. Once you hit the post/send button, it’s out there for the world and someone will find it if they need too. One day it could come back and you’ll have to answer to questions on why you made that post. We all have heard stories, whether it’s professional athletes, celebrities, or that friend or family member who posted something years ago and is being questioned about that post and lost their dream opportunity because of it.

As a member of the support staff at LaMonaca Law, I have seen and heard countless stories from cases where a social media post or direct message turned a situation upside down and resulted in a meeting with one of our attorneys. Spouses may get frustrated with one another and send something that may jeopardize their case.  We all wish we could go back and re-word or rephrase what we originally posted or sent on social media or to someone directly. Some posts and messages can never be taken back and you will have to deal with the potential consequences.

Besides the obvious, and following Coach Edward’s advice, here are some other suggestions before you press send:

• Take a few minutes and re-read what you are about to send before sending
• On your computer and if you use Outlook, you can setup rules to delay sending your emails. Check out this link on how to do so. https://support.office.com/en-us/article/delay-or-schedule-sending-email-messages-026af69f-c287-490a-a72f-6c65793744ba
• Depending on your email provided, you could download an extension that will allow you to send a message later. Such as boomerang for Gmail.
• Think about how your message may be read by a judge if it were to be presented in a hearing.

If you happen to press send and now find yourself in a difficult situation, Press Send to LaMonaca Law or Call 610-892-3877 to schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys.