We have all said things we regret. Perhaps you snapped at your spouse or were short with a co-worker. A simply apology usually can put things right. When you shoot off your mouth in a media interview or tweet without thinking, your mistake is magnified a million-fold.

Twitter is a great tool to reach your audience quickly. That doesn't mean you don't have to think of the consequences before you type those 140 characters. Just ask one of the Trump campaign communication directors. Immediately after the campaign director was fired this week, Michael Caputo shot off this tweet: "ding dong the witch is dead." Caputo was then forced to resign. Donald Trump has tweeted with abandon and perhaps Caputo thought this gave him license to do the same. Clearly it did not.

Twitter is abuzz after one of Bollywood's biggest stars made light of rape during a news conference. Salman Khan immediately regretting saying he felt like a "raped woman." But instead of immediately giving a heartfelt apology during that news conference and acknowledging that rape is horrific, he continued on with business as usual. As if comparing a tough film role to being raped is no big deal. Instead of answering softball questions about a movie, Khan now is facing a communication crisis. His team should be working up a plan that goes far beyond apologies.

In Thailand, Nok Air issued an apology to a former prime minister for a totally inappropriate chat room post by a pilot.
The pilot joked about crashing the plane that the former PM was flying on. This reckless social media post can have a long-lasting impact on the airline. They took the first step in their communication crisis with the apology. Much more should be done to assure the public that safety is always the number one priority.

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