You have two options: confess or lie, lie, lie.
Nothing will make your heart sink faster than realizing you just sent a message to the wrong person. It happens to all of us, and it's a mistake you can't undo – the recipient will read it. These are the facts and you cannot change them.
(It's completely you he can actually cancel sending messages on some platforms – Instagram and Gmail, for example; and if you send an iMessage you didn't mean to send, you can put your phone in airplane mode before the text is delivered. It probably won't work, but it's worth a try.)
But you have a choice about what to do next: you can be honest about it, or you can lie. Here are some examples of what to say in both cases.
If you choose to be honest, say something like this
Admitting your mistake can be difficult, especially if you were talking shit to someone and accidentally sent the text about that person , or if you work with the person who received your mistaken or negligent message. To make things right, you might just have to suck it up and be direct.
Start with something brief, like “Wrong chat. This wasn't for you. Sorry about that."
If the message is explicit or embarrassing, try a little harder: “Oh, that's so weird, but it was for someone else. I'm sorry to involve you and I would really appreciate it if we could keep this private.
Arguably the worst case scenario, besides sending a nude to the family group chat, is sending an offensive message directly to the subject. If you text or Slack message your coworker Jill saying, “God, Jill never stops talking about her stupid, ugly chihuahua” or whatever, you can't just say, “Hey, that wasn't meant to you". Jill is well aware that it wasn't for her, so you'll have to eat it this time.
Say, “Hey, Jill. I'm sorry for this. I'm in a bad mood today, but I shouldn't have insulted you or Scrappy (he's adorable!). I'm finding it difficult to concentrate today and your speech was distracting me, but that's no excuse for being so rude.”
How to Lie About Texting the Wrong Person
There's an old saying that honesty is the best policy, but whoever came up with it never had to wait for a rental with a roommate after accidentally texting them about how dirty and annoying they are. Sometimes a bold untruth is the best choice, even if you're sure the person receiving the message knows you're lying.
If your message didn't include a lot of incriminating evidence, you may be placing the blame on someone else. Let's say there's a big protest in your town because a ruthless company is trying to tear down the old library and build a thrift store. Imagine you want to text an out-of-town friend: “I don’t mind this at all. It's a library. And? I'm tired of these protesters obstructing traffic. ” Now, imagine that you accidentally sent it to a different friend – someone who really likes library preservation.
The easy solution is a follow-up message: “My friend Wayne just sent me this. Can you believe how insensitive he is? Just shows what we're up against here.
In this case, you are pretending that you copied and pasted from someone else to show how she It's horrible. Yes, you're spinning a nasty little web of lies and implicating an innocent person, but if you're choosing to lie, you have to get your hands dirty.
Or try that trusty standby: “Hey, sorry! My brother took my phone while I was in the bathroom and sent random messages to people.” It worked in eighth grade and it will (more or less) work now.
Or why not try some gaslighting? Hit them with a “Just kidding!” You weren't kidding, and they probably know that, but you can definitely say that you were.
Finally, if you're going to lie, give yourself a few seconds to find a decent one. Typing nonsense in that few seconds after sending will not help your case. Remember, the action is done and you cannot undo it. Your next move should be strategic, not reckless.
