Social post-writing faux paus to avoid

What are some common social media writing errors?

Writing on social media may be a bit more casual than a formal research paper, but a glaring typo on your viral post is sure to stand out. Every social media platform has an army of grammar police and keeping your posts free of typos gives them one less reason to complain. Here are some of the most common writing errors that appear in social media posts:

”Apart” vs. “a part”

It’s easy to mix up these two similar phrases, but “apart” and “a part” have completely different meanings. “Apart” means separate from something else, and “a part” is a phrase used to describe a piece of something larger. Some examples of how to use “apart” versus “a part” include the following:

• It was hard to tell the twins apart from each other
• Robert is a part of that organization.

”Your” vs. “you’re”

Much like “their,” “there,” and “they’re,” “your” and “you’re” are often misused in social media posts. “Your” is a possessive adjective that indicates someone’s belongings, and “you’re” is a contraction of the phrase “you are.” In the case of “their,” “there,” and “they’re,” “their” is a possessive adjective like “your” and “they’re” is a contraction like “you’re.” “There” is an adverb that points to a specific place.

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”Too” vs. “to”

“Too” and “to” are also very similar. “To” is a preposition usually placed before an infinitive, and “too” is used to describe an excess of something. “Too” is a synonym of the word “also” as well. Here are some examples on how these phrases are used:

• The line to get in is insane!
• There’s too much cake left over from the party. Sam said she would take a slice home; will you take some too?

”Altogether” vs. “all together”

Contrary to popular belief, altogether and all together don’t mean the same thing. “Altogether” means “completely” or “in total,” and “all together” means “with everyone.” Here are some examples:

• They stopped hanging out altogether.
• We were all together when we saw the comet.

”Lose” vs. “loose”

“Lose” and “loose” aren’t homophones, but the one letter difference can make it hard to tell them apart. “Lose” is the opposite of “win,” and “loose” means something that is not tight.

”Definitely”

“Definitely” can be a tricky word to spell. You might see it spelled as “definately” or “defiantly” in a social media comment. However, “defiantly” means to show resistance and “definately” is not a word in the English language. A helpful tip to remember is that the letter “a” is not in “definitely,” even if it sounds like it might.

Other common spelling errors

There are plenty of other words that are often misspelled on social media. Exceptions to popular grammar rules like “I before E, except after C” (“caffeine,” “receive,” etc.) can effectively trip up lots of people. Words with multiple double letters like “embarrassed” and “committee” are also susceptible to being written incorrectly.

Your smartphone’s autocorrect settings may catch the occasional typo, but it’s still easy for an error slip by unnoticed. To improve the grammar on your social media posts, use an online grammar checking tool before hitting “send” to ensure everything you put out into the world is typo-free.