"I am not a typo"

Spellcheck and autocorrect can be useful if you are typing on a small screen or in a hurry. However, they tend to ‘correct’ people’s names that are not common, white British names. 
It’s time to correct autocorrect and improve professionalism in PR/communications by taking a bit more care when writing or pronouncing someone’s name. Their identity.

Transcript

“I am not a typo”

Spellcheck and autocorrect can be useful features if you are typing on a small screen or in a hurry. However, they tend to ‘correct’ people’s names that are not common, white British names. This is not just annoying (sometimes I have to retype a name a few times); it is institutional racism by the big tech companies. In public relations practice, as in journalism, it is unprofessional to misspell someone’s name.

Names are part of an individual’s identity. 

‘I am not a typo” is a great little UK campaign that raises awareness about the issue and pressures tech companies to improve their spellcheck/autocorrect. Research by the campaign using Microsoft’s UK English dictionary found that 41% of UK children’s names come up as typos. 41%!  Dhruti Shah, a journalist, said, “My name is Dhruti Shah. Not Drutee, Dirty, or even Dorito. And yet these are all words my name has been changed to, often because of an autocorrect decision or a rushed message… My first name isn’t even that long – only six characters – but yet when it comes up as an error or it’s mangled and considered an unknown entity, it’s like saying that it’s not just your name that’s wrong, but you are”. 

The names ‘autocorrected’ are disproportionately African, Asian, Eastern European, Scottish, Welsh or Irish. The fix is easy. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) produces an annual list of babies names. These could easily be incorporated into the tech companies’ name dictionaries that power autocorrect.

As professionals, we want to treat all our stakeholders and audiences with respect. But are we if we rely on the ‘autocorrection’ of people’s names?

The same goes for mispronouncing someone’s name. It is OK to ask someone how to pronounce their name. Or, if you have the chance, spend a minute looking it up online. YouTube, a search engine or AI will help! A few months ago, CNN Travel ran an article on ‘Irish names you’re probably saying wrong’. It is worth looking it up and doing a self check to find out how many names you pronounced correctly. 

It’s time to correct autocorrect and improve professionalism in PR/communications by taking a bit more care when writing or pronouncing someone’s name. Their identity.

[Image: freestocks on Unsplash]