Rant: I picked the Twitter apology over staying quiet and it backfired badly

Last month an old tweet of mine from 2014 resurfaced where I made a dumb joke about mental health. I chose to post a long apology video instead of just ignoring it, and within 48 hours I lost 300 followers and got roasted in the replies for being 'performative.' Should I have just stayed silent or was the apology the right move?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_allen54d ago

Honestly people are so quick to judge whatever you do these days. Its like they already decided you're guilty so anything you say just makes it worse. I've noticed this pattern everywhere not just online but in real life too. Like if you make a mistake at work and try to explain yourself people just think you're making excuses. But if you stay quiet they say you don't care. There's no winning because everyone already has their mind made up before you even speak. Your apology probably would've been fine if people weren't already looking for a reason to be mad at you.

miles_robinson203d ago

My buddy Jason actually went through this exact thing last week @alice_allen5. He apologized for messing up a group project and people still piled on him saying he was just trying to look good. Can't win for losing, right?

felixm293d ago

Whoa hold on @alice_allen5 I gotta disagree a little here. I've seen plenty of situations where a genuine apology ACTUALLY works and people respect it. The key is whether you actually mean it or if it sounds like damage control. Like if Jason was really honest about what he did wrong and didn't make excuses, most decent folks will give you another chance. But if he came in with "sorry you feel that way" energy, yeah people are gonna roll their eyes. I've screwed up plenty myself and a straightforward "my bad, here's what I'll do different next time" has always worked better than trying to explain myself.