We’ve all heard the horror stories of social media mishaps having serious repercussions. For example, Harvard rescinded acceptance for at least 10 students over their behavior in a private Facebook group. Which makes it clear that what you do privately on social media can affect your chances of getting in (and staying in) your dream school or dream career.

However, it’s important to have a strategy in place for if/when you (or your student) make a mistake on social media. How you react will make all of the difference for your digital footprint, online reputation, and search results. So, we asked 11 experts to share their best tips for overcoming social media mishaps.

1. Before posting, pause, think and reflect

Andrew Selepak, Social Media Professor, University of Florida

Social media is a tool and a tool has a use, but if we don’t think about that use, it is a useless tool. In the case of social media, it is a tool that takes up our time, can cause stress, anxiety, and other problems. Young people need to think about why they want to use social media before they start an account or before they start posting and keep this in mind if they hope to use social media correctly. The best practice for social media posting is the same best practice for being a reporter: it is better to be second and right than first and wrong.

Young people need to learn to pause before posting content and think about how others might view their post, about how well their post was written, and the purpose of their post. In a world of instant gratification, we too often want to post to social media as soon as something happens or as soon as it comes to mind, but in doing so we forget to think about the consequences of our posts. Sometimes even a brief moment of reflection can be the difference between a post we regret and a post we delete.

2. The best defense is building a strong offense in the digital world

Josh Ochs, SmartSocial.com

The best defense is building a strong offense in the digital world.
To avoid making mistakes on social media, ensure that you are creating lots of positive content that can be seen as Light, Bright and Polite™ online. You can still have fun, be silly, and show your humor, just make sure it's positive with a touch of gratitude. If you’ve made a mistake online, remove the post and apologize immediately (but remember that once something is shared on social media it can be posted elsewhere).

To create a positive offense, consider creating a personal website.

Having a personal website is one of the best ways to overcome social media mishaps if a certain negative post is persisting in your search results.

Your personal website is a great way to shine online and show your unique personality. Use your website to highlight school projects, hobbies, passion work, volunteer work, or family vacation photos. We have a Website Workshop that helps you build your website in less than an hour. We create fun, easy to follow videos, and training guides that make your student an expert on their website in just a few minutes.

3. Always own up to your mistakes and remember that jobs/college acceptances are on the line when posting

Allen Koh, CEO, Cardinal Education

This is a critical time for parents to monitor their children’s use of technology. Parents who hadn’t been used to supervising their children must step in and set restrictions on technology. Otherwise, kids will get caught in a spiral of technology use and feel more isolated and unfocused. Excessive social media use often leads to anxiety and depression, and studies corroborate this claim.

However, in a situation where a mistake does occur, one of the best things to do is to own up and apologize, and make the required amends by either correcting the post or deleting it.

There is another side to the coin that students need to understand. Often, one of the first places that recruiters visit after perusing a resume/application in consideration for an interview is social media. As an outsider, many things can be gauged from social media profiles for prospective employees. Companies want to see that you do have a life with family and friends and blend well with society.

4. Don’t panic, time will heal all things

Flynn Zaiger, CEO, Online Optimism

Students so often hear that everything on the Internet is forever, which can cause panic when they make a mistake. They're not entirely wrong. Once something is online, it can be brought up forever.

It's worth noting to students that have made mistakes, though, that the Internet can have an awfully short attention span. For their friends and feeds on social media, that's even more true. The algorithms that dictate what users search on social media, from TikTok, to Instagram, to whatever the next big social network is, have mandated that only what is new, is cool. So students should first take a deep breath, and realize that this moment will pass.

Next, they should decide for themselves what an appropriate next step is. Should a post be taken down? Should any sort of apology be made, and if so, will it be done via DM or publicly. They should take into account their feelings, those of whoever else is affected, and the greater public. On the Internet, your actions are always being watched. Once you make a plan, put it in place, and reassess in a week. Time helps heal all things, including social media mistakes.

5. Turn a social media blunder into a positive blog or page

Samantha Warren, Director of Project Management

Parents and teachers often preach that “once you post something on the Internet, it never goes away.” Unfortunately, that lesson is true. Many students learn it the hard way.

But I think it's important to acknowledge that humans aren't perfect. People make mistakes. It's no surprise that high school and college students sometimes post things online that they regret later on.

When students make a mistake online, they should educate other students about the realities of social media instead of letting the errors get the best of them. For example, they could start blogs or social media pages that provide relatable stories and helpful information on how to navigate the digital world responsibly.

Students are more likely to listen to other teenagers or young adults. Parents can’t always get through to their kids. Therefore, it’s important for students to take the initiative themselves to educate their peers about the risks and responsibilities that come with social media use.

6. What can students learn from their mistakes?

Scot Chrisman, Founder and CEO, The Media House

No matter how careful we are, we still make mistakes sometimes and social media is no exception. When you make a mistake on social media, I think the best thing to do is to identify what mistake you made so you won’t make the same mistake again in the future.

We spend most of our time on social media, so it is important to build and maintain a healthy relationship with social media. To do this, here are some tips I’d like to share:

Choose who you’re going to follow. Only follow accounts that can inspire and motivate you. Try to block negativity from your social media accounts as much as possible.

Be careful with what you post. Make sure to only post positive and helpful, not negative and harmful, content.

Take a break. If you feel like what you’re seeing on social media is becoming too much, take a break.

This may sound cliche but this is important: think before you click. Use social media responsibly.

For more tips on how to do this, read our blog on how to use social media responsibly.

7. Don’t say something online you wouldn’t say to someone’s face

Debbie Lopez, Director of Content Marketing, Zivadream

If a mistake is made on social media, damage control may be the first step. If possible, take steps in removing the offending comment, picture, or post. Depending on the circumstances, it might be appropriate to post a brief apology. A phone call could be in order. Better yet, resolve the issues with face-to-face communication.

Parents can help. First of all, don’t embarrass your child/teen. They already feel bad enough about their blunder. Instead, assure them that their mistakes do not define them. Start a conversation about concentrating on the functional aspects of social media, and encourage them to steer clear of the emotional piece. Suggest that before making a social media post, they ask themselves if they would say that to someone directly if they were in the same room together, or if it is something that they might be embarrassed about if someone like their boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s mother were to see it.

Parents can also lead by example. If mom or dad constantly posts selfies, reports, and posts pictures of every little detail of their vacation, or engages in ill-natured debates over social media platforms, chances are that their children will follow suit.

8. Students should take down the post and apologize

Paula Nolan, M.Ed, @NolanPaulaJ

As a school administrator, almost every day I worked with students who have made a mistake on social media. I saw the fallout in the school setting and how it impacted the student who wrote the post, those who the post was about, and the families on both sides of the conflict.

Usually, these mistakes involve a student being upset with someone and then talking about it online. Most of the time they didn't mean what they said and they feel bad about what they posted. Or, they were upset but didn't realize how far and wide the post would go.

When a student makes a mistake, the initial steps to end their social fallout are relatively easy. First, the student should take down the post. Then, they should send a message to the person whom the post was about and apologize. Third, and sometimes this needed some facilitation, was to actually talk to the person who was offended by the post and work out a solution to the issue.

It is also important for the student to tell their friends to also stop antagonizing the targeted person. If they can’t stop it, the school can help by talking with the students who continue to post.

Then, work with the families on encouraging the student to not post or look at social media (both while the mistake was being fixed and for future times when they were upset). It can be difficult for students to take those breaks, so that can be work for parents. However, our students who took the advice above have frequently reported to us that they were happier not engaging in online conflict.

9. Be active and involved while watching for warning signs

泰坦尼亚·乔丹， 吠叫

监控您的孩子正在上网的内容可能会令人恐惧，几乎是不可能的。而且，当涉及到社交媒体上的错误时，你的孩子可能不会告诉你什么时候发生了什么。这就是为什么父母必须注意危险情况的潜在警告信号。相信自己的直觉，但要知道你的直觉取决于你的活跃和参与。注意孩子的变化：

• 行为
• 习惯
• 朋友们
• 沟通（他们更退缩了吗？）
• 饮食和睡眠模式
• 服装（他们的着装方式）
• 社交媒体帖子（发布频率和/或内容）

如果你发现他们犯了错误，你该怎么做？

保持冷静。 你的反应会给人留下持久的印象。聊一聊，而不是大喊大叫。

要支持，不要责骂我。 你的孩子可能会为他们的错误感到羞耻。你希望能够透过孩子的眼睛看见。支持是做到这一点的唯一途径。

在设定期望的同时建立信任。 这很可能是一次旅程，而不是一次性的体验。让你的孩子知道你是如何处理这类情况的。

继续问问题。 持续数周、数月甚至数年的对话是你能做的最好的事情。偶尔办理登机手续，当话题出现时不要回避。这样，尴尬的情况就会变成加强沟通的机会。

安装过滤和监控系统。 父母绝对不可能监视孩子的整个网络世界。从搜索到他们共享的内容，庞大的搜索量使之不可能。有 神奇的工具 那里不仅可以屏蔽内容，还可以让你知道你的孩子在网上做什么。现在就把它们放到位。

10。做出有意义的道歉并采取有意义的行动

亚历克西斯·摩尔， 律师兼作家

在社交媒体设置或其他在线论坛中在线犯了任何错误后，删除该帖子并承认您犯了错误。如果需要道歉，请道歉，因为某处有人有你不应该发布的帖子，而将其付诸实施的最佳方法是将其删除、认可，并在将来花更多时间不要重蹈社交帖子的覆辙。

我的许多年轻客户没有意识到的一件事是，承担责任意味着纠正方向 —— 雇主、同事、同学、家人和朋友会接受衷心的道歉，但最重要的是，如果一个人不为这篇文章承担责任，一遍又一遍地重复同样的行为，并试图说对不起作为创可贴，这是行不通的。因此，做出有意义的道歉并采取有意义的行动。

社交媒体不是敌人，但是，你可以与之建立关系并加以利用！如果你发现自己花在网上的时间比与家人和朋友面对面的时间还要多，那是个坏兆头。或者，如果你发现自己在不中断与家人、朋友、学习、工作或日常生活的义务的情况下几乎无法避免在社交网站上登录，那么这表明存在麻烦。

不得不想办法学习如何从社交媒体中排毒，不让它取代一个人的日常生活，这并不丢人。如果你感觉到社交媒体正在对你的日常生活产生负面影响（这是一种中断而不是美好生活的辅助手段），那么是时候重新评估社交媒体的情况，有目的地使用它，而不是消遣。

作为网络跟踪领域的领先专家和律师， 我强烈建议当今的年轻人（以及那些在没有负担与好处的情况下难以使用社交媒体的人）与他人展开面对面的对话！还有许多其他人在社交媒体上遇到了同样的问题。不要害怕问朋友、同学或家人，他们在社交媒体上做了什么来克服错误。

11。通过创建有目的的账户来避免社交媒体上的不幸事故

乔尔·贝内特， Tokeet

仅允许您的青少年为他们的项目拥有社交媒体帐户，而不是个人帐户。例如，如果你的孩子有木工爱好，他们可以注册一个账号来发布自己的作品，并与其他木匠交流。

根据他们的年龄，您可能需要帮助他们做好准备。对于不想让孩子上社交媒体的父母来说，这是一种折衷方案。它为他们提供了提高工作效率的理由，并帮助他们将社交媒体和互联网视为一种工具，而不是一种严格的社交渠道。

结论

社交媒体错误必然会发生，但你的反应方式将影响你的数字足迹、在线声誉和搜索结果。做好准备是防止社交媒体事故的最佳方法，学生应围绕社交媒体发布制定指导方针，例如：

• 当他们心烦意乱时避免在网上发帖
• 考虑雇主、教师、家长、大学招生官员或同行如何解释他们的职位
• 保持帖子轻松、明亮、礼貌™
• 创建社交媒体账户，以突出他们的学校项目、爱好或志愿者工作

如果你在社交媒体上犯了一个错误，它可能相对容易修复。立即删除该帖子，为错误道歉，然后联系并向帖子的目标道歉（如果有）。如果您的 Google 搜索结果的前两页出现负面帖子，请创建一个突出显示您的个人品牌的个人网站，将负面结果进一步推送到您的 Google 搜索结果中。如果您需要帮助为您的在线投资组合建立完美的网站，请加入 SmartSocial 学生品牌学院 六节课将引导您在线建立品牌。

克服社交媒体不幸的最佳秘诀是什么？请在下面的评论中告诉我们！