I previously wrote how apology has become the new language of the office, but nowhere is the apology more prevalent than on social media.  And nowhere is it more insincere.

The typical social media apology arises out of a public ‘outing’; the result of herd outrage.  This is a rather fickle phenomenon, which is equally likely to praise as it is to condemn.  But, when the herd demands, an apology is the only possible action in order to redress the balance of moral equilibrium, and to send the herd back into its high-horse stables.  Except, such an apology––obtained by duress––is never going to be sincere.  Whatever opinion was expressed such that it needed to be castigated is not going to be altered by the collective finger-pointing.  Sorry is the hollowest word on social media.

The only thing that the apologist is sorry for is being publicly outed in an environment where so many others are not.

Nowadays, a more unusual occurrence is when someone is outed on social media and does not apologise, such as with the recent example of Lee Anderson and his comments about Sadiq Khan.

Although, perhaps he should now apologise for not apologising?

© Simon Turner-Tree

Thankfully, Simon Turner-Tree has nothing to be sorry for.