<story><title>So you&apos;ve made a mistake and it&apos;s public</title><url>https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/So_you%27ve_made_a_mistake_and_it%27s_public...</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>macspoofing</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m not sure apologizing publicly has made anything better for any individual, especially in the current moral panic climate. Mobs don&amp;#x27;t accept apologies.&lt;p&gt;Public apologies stamp official guilt on the individual and therefore serve as a license for the mob to further punish them because now they have admitted their fault and therefore are &amp;#x27;officially&amp;#x27; guilty of the crime. Public apologies, therefore, are the metaphorical equivalent of blood in the water for attracting sharks.&lt;p&gt;Maybe it&amp;#x27;s better to just ignore and maintain innocence because then at least there is some gray area? I don&amp;#x27;t know.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>DenisM</author><text>People in strong position stand to gain by apologizing, while people in weak position stand to lose. One must consider one&amp;#x27;s standing before dabbling.&lt;p&gt;In my own company I try to apologize every time I screw something up. I know my position is unassailable, and my team members should have trust that their leadership is in touch with reality.&lt;p&gt;I am also cognizant of the fact that no hired employee has the same level of security, and it troubles me.</text></comment>
<story><title>So you&apos;ve made a mistake and it&apos;s public</title><url>https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/So_you%27ve_made_a_mistake_and_it%27s_public...</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>macspoofing</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m not sure apologizing publicly has made anything better for any individual, especially in the current moral panic climate. Mobs don&amp;#x27;t accept apologies.&lt;p&gt;Public apologies stamp official guilt on the individual and therefore serve as a license for the mob to further punish them because now they have admitted their fault and therefore are &amp;#x27;officially&amp;#x27; guilty of the crime. Public apologies, therefore, are the metaphorical equivalent of blood in the water for attracting sharks.&lt;p&gt;Maybe it&amp;#x27;s better to just ignore and maintain innocence because then at least there is some gray area? I don&amp;#x27;t know.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>microtherion</author><text>I think I understand where you&amp;#x27;re coming from, but I see the &amp;quot;never apologize&amp;quot; philosophy as having an utterly corrosive effect on the person who made a mistake.&lt;p&gt;What I try to do is apologize concisely, but then feel free to ignore people who want to drag this out into &amp;quot;that was not a REAL apology&amp;quot; &amp;#x2F; &amp;quot;now confess to your OTHER crimes&amp;quot; territory.</text></comment>