Sometimes we realize our mistakes as soon as we hit Post, Send, or Tweet. Other times we want to go back into our digital history, and erase stuff we posted when we were young, naive, stupid, silly, angry, hostile, offensive or drunk.
All the major social media sites have delete buttons. Here’s where to find them.
Facebook: Hover over your post in your timeline. Click in the top-right corner, and choose Delete or Hide.
Twitter: Visit your profile page, and find the offending tweet. Click the More icon ( ••• ) and choose Delete.
Instagram: Tap the photo you want to delete and then tap the button in the bottom right corner of the photo that looks like three vertical dots. Choose Delete.
In addition to manual deletion, there is a new app that will scan your social media digital footprint, automatically flags potentially offensive posts, and give you the option to automatically remove them.
The Clear app (iOS only) was created by Ethan Czahor, who very publicly lost his dream job because of historical tweets that were deemed sexist. Czahor hopes his app will prevent others from suffering the same fate.
