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Twitter Exec Accidentally Reveals Potential Acquisition in Epic Twitter Fail How meta.

By Laura Entis

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Twitter is a fruitful breeding ground for epic social media fails. It can be a confusing platform to use, tweets are often dashed off from smartphones, hashtags can be hijacked and humor doesn't always translate in 140 characters or less -- all of which can lead to fiascos like these.

If you weren't already convinced that a Twitter fail can happen to anyone, perhaps this will do the trick: Yesterday, Twitter's own CFO Anthony Noto made an embarrassing blunder on the platform.

Noto appears to have mixed up Twitter's tweet and direct messaging features, unintentionally tweeting out a public missive about a potential acquisition that he meant to send privately.

"I still think we should buy them. He is on your schedule for Dec 15 or 16 -- we will need to sell him. i have a plan," the message read.

Related: Don't Make These Social-Media Blunders That Businesses Keep Repeating

The tweet was quickly deleted, but not before reporters took screenshots, including Fusion's Kevin Roose.

Already, outlets have rushed to decipher the company referenced in the above tweet (Check out Re/code's list of possibilities here).

While the incident highlights what many see as Twitter's confusing direct messaging feature (and its hard-to-navigate user interface in general), it also serves as a warning for brands and, actually, anyone who uses the platform: If Twitter's own CFO can mess up on Twitter, so can you. Vigilance is a must when it comes to social media, especially since a botched tweet can live on long after it's been deleted.

Related: 'Dear Mr. Human': United Airlines Suffers Another Embarrassing Customer Service Blunder

Laura Entis is a reporter for Fortune.com's Venture section.

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