Writing for Social Media

Writing for Social Media

There are many things to remember when writing for new media online, but as with all types of writing, you need to know your audience. Things to consider include; will there be a lot of graphics or mostly text? Will most of your readers be accessing your work on a computer or mobile device? Will there be many graphics included etc.

It’s also not much good including highly technical terms in an article or blog post online if the people whom you hope to reach with your writing won’t understand some of the terminology used.

What you’re writing about also determines the platform that will best be suited for your purpose. Will it be a website or blog focused? Where will it be hosted? What’s the best way to develop a following?

Work should be well structured to make the information flow smoothly. A disorganised piece of writing could see readers quickly losing interest.

In this era of fake news being all over the internet, it’s also essential to establish and build credibility with your writing. Using online blogging for unfair personal gain can also result in landing you into hot water. An excellent example of this is a well-known blogger “Belle Gibson” who faked having a terminal disease and ended up getting fined $410,000 for making and collecting money under false pretences.

Report on Belle Gibson by ABC News (Click to read)

Consideration also needs to be given to how your information is presented if advertisement revenue is used. Advertisements can often mislead readers and make you lose credibility if you don’t have control over what types of ads appear on your site. Too many ads can also put visitors off from returning to your blog or website. A happy balance in this regard must be struck.

When writing about real-life events, transparency is an important consideration as well and aids in both establishing and maintaining credibility.

Necessary steps to help with credibility

There are many considerations, but at a minimum;

Site Design – Should be user friendly, easy to use, and navigate
Graphics – Should be of a high quality
Writing Style – Should be consistent
Having full contact information available on every page
Being ethical and ensuring there are no glaring grammar or spelling errors in the presentation of your information.
Above all, stick to writing about what you know. Never plagiarise.

More to add at a later time...