Twitter and Facebook users have been urged to think carefully about their social media content before pressing ‘send’, Oxford University professors have urged.
A study commissioned by Holocaust Memorial Day )undertaken by academics from Magdalen College Oxford) found that many people and businesses who use social networking sites have regretted something they have published online, telegraph.co.uk reports.
The announcement follows a Twitter campaign to save the job of an intern who erroneously tweeted on behalf of her employee, MP Tom Watson.
The intern is not alone, however; with around a quarter of those surveyed by Oxford University claimed to have gone on to regret comments they had made on social channels.
It is hoped the research will prompt users to carefully consider their social media content before publishing it online to make sure there is no way they will come to regret it.
The lead author of the study, Professor Dunbar, claimed that the remote nature of social networking is exactly what has prompted the results.
“Our research has shown that people are more prone to saying something on social media that they later regret, because in these digital environments we don’t receive the immediate checks and balances that we get during face-to-face interactions,” he told the Mail Online.
“This can therefore result is a careless or inappropriate tweet.”
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