Top five most embarrassing digital blunders... ever!
Red-faced email (and voicemail) moments re-lived...
Last month silicon.com started asking readers to share those heart-stopping, blood-draining moments when you realise you really shouldn't have sent that email. Or recorded that voice mail.
The confessional door swung open and we haven't been able to get you out since. To date, 1,025 of you in the UK - and close to another 2,000 across France and Germany - have filled out our Digital Blunders poll (click here for more details ).
Next month we'll award a bottle of champagne to senders of the top three confessions. Promises of bubbly notwithstanding, silcon.com's news desk presents its personal favourite digital blunders so far:
5. Some embarrassing fun down under
A friend had been travelling Australia and New Zealand for nearly a year, and before setting off back to UK, sent a blast email to everyone in her address book, including family, friends and everyone she had met on her travels. She thanked all the people she'd met for such a fantastic time, and looked forward to returning home. One of her friends emailed back saying he was sorry they wouldn't be seeing her before she left, and was amazed at "how many blokes you shagged"... but, you guessed it - he'd replied to all!
4. The client relations expert
How about the Client Relations Manager who, whilst arranging a seminar for clients, accidentally emailed all the potential attendees, describing the list of names as "short - and crappy".
3. Notes on Jimmy Saville's nether region
In a previous company whilst testing a soon-to-be-released Lotus Notes database I happened across a quirk in Notes which lead to an email I sent appearing to come from the CEO. The recipient, a friend of mine, received the email, didn't recognise the sender and hit 'Reply with History' adding only the word 'what?'. Understandable, really, since the email read as follows: "The hills are alive with the smell of hooverbags, I know, I spread em... Yours truly, Jimmy Saville's Hairy Beanbag". The CEO went ballistic, the gaffe was traced to me and the sh*t hit the fan, especially as I had only been in employment there for less than a week.
2. 'Out' in Japan
I managed to 'out' one of my best friends after he sent a newsy email to all his family and friends telling us how he was getting on in his new job in Japan. I replied with a rather crude message about the possibilities of finding a new boyfriend as well. Only I hit the 'reply to all' button, promptly shattering any dreams his parents had of having grandchildren. Oops!
1. Take this down please, Miss Jones
My company completed a survey on voicemail usage for a large blue chip organisation. During this survey, a secretary was suddenly dismissed under somewhat mysterious circumstances. However, towards the end of the voicemail survey, three weeks after the lady had gone, all was suddenly revealed. The secretary had future delivered a voicemail message and had broadcast it to the whole organisation, over 2,000 staff, explaining that a member of the board had got her pregnant and that is why she had to go! By the time everyone heard this message, the sec was long gone! Now that's what I call good use of technology.
So that's our list. The definitive list, unless you know different...