Death, taxes, and typos. They happen for everyone. And most of the time, if readers even notice typos, I hope they say, “Yeah, I know what she meant” and forgive an error. I try to overlook them, except when I’m being paid to catch them.
Several months ago, I had a problem with Twitter. Whenever I accepted a follower request through that person’s own page, a banner announced, “So-and-so “will not receive your tweets.” I thought I’d hit the wrong button. It kept happening. No matter how careful I was, I kept rejecting followers. This was a job for tech support.
A Twitter technie announced it was repaired, but like the Star-Spangled Banner, that flag was still there. Six rounds of reporting back and forth–and who knows how many tech support hours Twitter paid for this–it turned out to be a typo. It actually means that So-and-so “will now receive your tweets.” There’s just a little T in the way of that vital W.
And as of today, it is STILL there!
I wonder how many of you noticed. I wonder how many complained. I wonder how much tech support time is still being wasted for want of a single letter.
May all your typos be harmless.
Text © Gwyn Nichols 2010
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