Have you ever said something and then immediately wish you could take it back? But you can’t. It’s too late; the words are out there, the deed is done, and there’s nothing you can do about it except hope no one noticed.
But people notice. An awkward silence ensues and perhaps someone politely changes the subject to get you off the hook.
If you blog, though, sometimes you throw stuff out that you wish you could take back. Maybe you posted in haste, wrote about a topic you weren’t well-informed about, or made some obvious error in fact that exposed you for the rube, ignoramus or insensitive jerk that you really are.
These are the “turkey” posts — the ones you should have thought twice about before hitting the “publish” button. But if you’re like me, all too often you hit “publish” and then think about what you should have said or written.
So for today’s Friday Five, in honor of the holiday just passed, I bring you five blog posts that were my “turkeys” of 2009. I own these. Nobody’s fault but mine. But, in my defense, let me state for the record that I was young, I was naive, I was stupid. I’m very sorry.
To the turkeys:
- Feb. 4, 2009 – My post of a YouTube video of a Snuggie parody that included the phrase WTF offended at least one reader who took the time to write me an email about it. I probably should have posted that the video was NSFW. But I stand by my original statement that I thought the parody would make a great Super Bowl ad.
- Feb. 24, 2009 – In a post titled Mapping the online world, I linked to a fictional geographical map of social media sites that I found on another blog. The map was posted on that other blog just a day earlier. But as I cleverly observed in my post, it “look[ed] like something drawn circa 2005.” Turns out, the map actually was ancient (in Internet time, anyway), as Kyle James and Liz Allen both pointed out in the comments.
- April 3, 2009 – I posted my picks for best albums of 2009, first quarter, and I’m embarrassed to see that I included Rusted Root’s digital-only release, Stereo Rodeo. I guess I was still infatuated with the fact that one of my once-favorite bands was attempting a comeback. But the newness of that release wore off quickly. I doubt I’ve listened to it since June. Oops.
- June 5, 2009 – I posted a whiny, self-righteous open letter to eMusic, complaining about the online music service’s new pricing structure and their sellout agreement to carry Sony’s back catalog. Guess what? I’m still a member of eMusic, paying more for less, and I’ve even purchased some tunes from the Sony back catalog. So, who’s the sellout?
- July 29, 2009 – I posted about the University of Waterloo’s rebranding campaign and dramatic logo makeover (Brave new logo [in a brave new world]), and applauded them for taking such a bold stance. Now it turns out the university has not adopted the new look. smh
Happy Black Friday to those of you who are doing your part to bolster our consumer-driven economy. And happy Buy Nothing Day for those who choose to opt out of the consumption frenzy.
In less than two weeks, I’ll be presenting about social media at the CASE District VI Conference in St. Louis. What I’d like to do as part of that presentation is something I try to do in most presentations: crowdsource some advice from other higher ed communications and marketing pros and share samples of the collective wisdom. Because none of us is as smart as all of us, right?
Andrew Careaga 