Why, then, are there so many posts of a "RIP Neil Armstrong" nature? The theory is that there was a misunderstanding about a post marking the anniversary of his death. (source)
Whether it was one misunderstanding or a series, there were enough people under the impression that Neil Armstrong had just died to get the "news" trending.
1. People miss crucial details.
Maybe this happens a little more often on Twitter or Facebook. The messages there don't get the same priority as business communications. However, if you shoot someone an email the length of a tweet, don't make it something too important.
This goes for office communications as well as client communications. ESPECIALLY client communications. If your ads aren't understood correctly, that's lost money. If there's a foul-up handling something for a client due to a miscommunication, that may be a lost client.
Take a little more time to make things clear, and explicitly address possible confusion. When you say "on Wednesday" go ahead and add "the 28th" or "tomorrow". Nobody's going to criticize you for being easy to understand.
2. People forget things.
Yes, people should have remembered that Neil Armstrong had died, especially when posts mention that it was the anniversary of his death. However it happened, they missed it, and they'd forgotten. Some of you may be wondering how that's possible. He's Neil Armstrong. Other readers are wondering what the big deal is.
The fact is that people have different circles of interest. Person A thinks it's incredible that Person B forgot about Neil Armstrong. Person B thinks it's incredible that Person A has never heard of the Beatles. Rolling out your newest product is big news to you, but it may not be on someone else's radar at all. Even though you've been advertising half a year and have talked with this very person about it, go ahead and throw in a one sentence reminder. "We're excited about relasing XYZ..." "I hope to see you at the back-to-school party..." Again, you've got nothing to lose.
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