Brits’ Biggest Tech Faux Pas, Revealed

Ever made a tech error so bad you wanted to throw your phone in the bin? Sent a text to the wrong person? Shared your screen at work when you shouldn’t have? The list almost feels endless… 

Whether it’s autocorrect nightmares or image sharing disasters, all of us have probably made a tech faux pas at some point in our work or personal lives.

We surveyed 2,000 Brits to learn more about the tech faux pas that have made us cringe - such as who’s more likely to do it, what the consequences were and just what Brits perceive to be the worst possible tech faux pas you can make…

Tech faux pas seem to be nothing new to many of us, with nearly one in every two people (46%) having made one in their personal life, and more than one in three (36%) making one at their workplace. Over half of us (53%) have been on the receiving end of someone else’s tech faux pas.

Sending a text to the wrong person, pocket dialling someone by accident and sending a private message to a group chat were all some of the most common tech faux pas. However, if they weren’t awkward enough, 15% admit to sending a sext to the wrong person, while 9% have even sent a nude (do we even want to imagine?!).

25-34 year olds were the most likely group to have committed a tech faux pas in their personal lives, the most common of which was sending a text to the wrong person followed by sending a private message in a group chat (#awks). This age group were also most likely to accidentally ‘like’ someone’s photos on social media when stalking them, and send a sext or nude to the wrong person. Well, don’t say we didn’t warn you…

Meanwhile, 55-64 are the biggest culprits for not double checking the recipient before hitting send (81%), while 65-and-overs were the least likely to have committed a tech faux pas - but still most guilty of letting inappropriate autocorrect mistakes slip through the net (21%). Whoops!

While the most common tech faux pas at work included sending a message or email to the wrong person, as well as replying ‘all’ in an email chain by accident, 10% of us have said something inappropriate out loud, thinking we’re on mute. And just as bad is sharing our screen with others revealing private content, which 9% of us admit to having done.

Men were the most likely to have made a tech faux pas in the workplace (38% vs. 34% for women), while 18-24 year olds were the most likely age group. And in terms of the industry, environment and agriculture workers were the most common tech faux pas offenders, while retail workers were the least.

Sending a ‘sext’ - a sexually suggestive text or message - to the wrong person was considered to be the worst tech faux pas you can possibly make, according to 25% of all Brits. The only thing worse than that for 35-54-year-olds is sending a private image (such as a ‘nude’) to the wrong person, with 25% agreeing.

As part of our research into tech faux pas at work, we looked at which job sectors are most likely to have sent a tech faux pas to their boss or their colleagues - and what the consequences might have been.

Those working in science and pharmaceuticals were the most likely to have sent a tech faux pas to their boss (29%), while those in social care were the most likely to have sent a tech faux pas to their colleagues (46%).

When it comes to which sectors have the toughest consequences for a tech faux pas, law and enforcement workers were the most likely to receive a warning at work (23%), while those in leisure, sport and tourism were most likely to receive disciplinary action (11%).

Commenting on the research, Liam Howley, Chief Marketing Officer at musicMagpie said: “We’ve all had that moment when we’ve hit send and minutes later your stomach drops… wrong person, dodgy typo, or worse.

“With most of our communication now happening through our technological devices, it’s clear to see from our research that tech faux pas are more prevalent than ever before and we all have some brushing up to do on our digital etiquette.

“However, with over 80% of the population having committed a tech faux pas, you can rest safe in the knowledge that you’re certainly not alone!”

We surveyed 2,000 Brits on tech faux pas they’d committed at work or in their personal life. Questions were multiple choice (with the option to provide qualitative data where needed) and included who they had made the error with, what the consequences were and what they believed to be the worst possible tech faux pas.

Results were split by age, gender, location and job sector. Data was collected via TLF in July 2023.