Have you ever accidentally sent a message to someone that wasn't supposed to get it and it then causes chaos and drama amongst you, the recipient and possibly dozens of other people?
Well it happened to Sean Moskowitz, who is now one of the co-founders of www.didijustsendthat.com, a website devoted to accidental messages and the resulting aftermath.
“Sean meant to text me about a girl, but instead text messaged the actual girl,” said Nikos Poulikidis, one of the site's co-founders. “It was funny because her name starts with Nik and so does mine, so I guess he did not realize it when he accidentally messaged her using ‘guy talk.’ Let’s just say they did not end up hitting it off with each other.”
"When [he] sent out a text message to the wrong person, the exact reaction was 'did I just send that?' Since everyone can relate to the shock and disbelief associated with an unintentional message, we thought it would be a great idea to develop a website where anyone can share similar instances of shock," Poulikidis added. "I believe that everyone has sent an embarrassing message at one point or another and therefore anyone can relate to these screenshots and find the humor in them."
The site allows for users to submit accidental messages that evoke the same sense of panic that Moskowitz felt after sending his. Whether it’s a text message, a Facebook post or an e-mail, the site lets users take screenshots of the message and have it posted for everyone to see. Users also have the ability to “like” the post and comment on it.
“We want to be the first website that allows users to upload screen shots of text messages, e-mails, BBM’s, etcetera, for the general public too see and comment on,” Moskowitz said. “You can't ever get that message back once you send it, so you might as well share it.”
Moskowitz and Poulikidis, 23, both graduated from Kennedy High School in 2005, along with the website’s developer and engineer, Eric Waller, also 23.
Waller studied Engineering at the Albert Nerken School of Engineering at The Cooper Union. Moskowitz studied Finance and Insurance at The University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business. Poulikidis studied Finance and International Relations at Boston University’s School of Management.
“The three of us are bringing different things to the table. Eric Waller is a web developer so he takes care of all the software engineering, while Sean and I work on getting the word out and moderating the content,” Poulikidis said.
In an ever-evolving age of communication, people are still learning how to master certain mediums, including text messaging and BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). The lack of experience with each type of communication can often lead to problems, as it did with Moskowitz.
“Although these screenshots can be funny and hysterical, sometimes they can actually cause panic,” Moskowitz said.
After discussing the idea of “Did I Just Send That” for a short period of time, Waller, a full-time web developer for the website www.seatgeek.com, spent about an hour or two a night over the course of four nights to get it running smoothly.
Didijustsendthat.com, which went live in mid-January, has already gained a ton of attention from the public, as well as the media. It was recently mentioned in a CNN article which discussed the new age of communication.
“In the case of didijustsendthat.com, we have received mostly positive reactions from readers,” Poulikidis said. “It's easy for someone to say something funny happened to them, but when they have pictures to back it up, then their story takes on an extra level of credibility. The fact that there is truth behind other people's embarrassing moments makes it that much funnier for the reader.”
A good example of what the website is based around is the entry entitled “Existential Crisis” (see picture):
- Lindaloo: “I just cheated, I feel horrible.”
- Greg: “I’m actually relieved, I was cheating with another girl as well.”
- Lindaloo: “I meant on my philosophy exam.”
Moskowitz and Poulikidis both said that the response from users has been great thus far, and they are already looking to continue advancing the website.
“So far we have received awesome feedback and are aware of necessary requirements to advance our company,” Moskowitz said. “… It's exciting to see the user base grow because that will help advance the site, such as the development of an iPhone app, which is on the agenda.”
The constant evolution of technology promises that plenty more mistakes will be made, and when they are, didijustsendthat.com will be there to bring out the humor in those mistakes.
"On one hand it's a fun side project for us, but on the other hand there are a ton of precedents out there for stuff like this taking off – I'm specifically thinking of College Humor and the Cheezburger Network," Waller said. "So we definitely want to take this as far as possible, especially since it's not the first – or last – goofy idea we've all had together.
Editor's Note: Some of the material on DidIJustSendThat.com is inappropriate for anyone under the age of 17.
