Two Vital Writing Lessons Taught by Modern Media

As social media hubs like Twitter and Facebook become ever more present in our everyday lives, more and more criticism begins to surface about them.

There is no denying that social media has revolutionized the way in which our modern society lives and communicates. With much of our social existence created online, it is hard to deny that social media hasn't had some sort of positive influence on modern society. However, as it goes with anything that is highly praised, social media communication is also heavily criticized.


People often put down Facebook and Twitter for being an expression of incomplete thoughts and inadequate arguments. While this can most certainly be the case, there are several aspects of social media interaction that positively influence our ability to communicate via written word. The following two aspects of social and modern media communication can teach valuable lessons in professional and persuasive writing.

Be Concise

Modern media communication generated through Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging is often criticized for limiting discourse to 140 characters. While this argument is somewhat understandable, character limits can teach a worthwhile writing lesson. With a limited amount of space to express your thoughts, we are forced to create clear and concise sentences. Precision is key to any genre of writing.

Twitter and text messaging force users to compose clear, concise, and direct points. These general writing skills are invaluable within the professional writing world. Whether you are creating business memorandum, professional email, or technical document, every sentence must be clear and to the point. All too often, our writing becomes convoluted with drawn out sentences filled with unnecessary adjectives and complicated verbs.

Twitter and text messaging have forced us to limit our sentences and narrow our arguments. Clear concise writing creates clearer understanding and stronger discussion.


Know Your Audience

Another aspect of modern media that can translate well to strong business writing is reading and understanding your audience. A huge part of successful writing is understanding who you are writing for. Of course, reading your audience is also one of the most challenging aspects of writing to master.

In order to gain a clear perception of who you are writing to/for, you have to understand what your goal is, who you want to listen to you, what those listeners want to hear all things that are difficult to pinpoint.

Social media, however, makes it significantly easier to pinpoint your audience and cater to their interests. For example, when someone Tweets a message, they consider who will be viewing this message. Just as you would not necessarily Tweet the same thing to your boss or family that you would your friends or siblings, writers must also evaluate their audience carefully. Public discussion using writing word (such as on Facebook or Twitter) intrinsically involves evaluating your audience.

This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for best online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99 at gmail dot com.

Susan Johnston's Urban Muse

Joining us today is freelance writer, Susan Johnston, who is happy her job lets her “apply that childlike curiosity and love of language on a daily basis.” She is a non-fiction writer whose work appears in newspapers, trade publications, blogs, company websites, consumer magazines and in the anthologies, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Getting In To College and the soon to be released P.S. What I Didn’t Say.

~ Can you tell us about some of your recent freelance projects?
Sure! I just finished a couple of articles about dating and relationships for various websites. I'm also working on several career articles for a soon-to-be launched magazine in Canada and getting ready to start a big project writing product descriptions for a catalogue. I do a lot of product descriptions, actually, and they remind me of haikus, because they're short and sweet.

~ How do new clients find you?
A lot of it happens through word of mouth. I'm really fortunate to have a few wonderful mentors who have helped me network and land bigger clients. Plus, I sometimes respond to ads looking for freelance writers, which is how I've landed several clients.

~ Do you advertise your writing services other than your web site?
I printed postcards last year, but other than that, I don't spend any money on marketing. It's mostly an investment of time updating various profiles and my blog. I have profiles on several freelance websites like FreelanceSwitch.com and CreativeHotList.com, plus I'm on LinkedIn, because that's a great all-purpose website for professionals in any industry. (When I have extra time, I'll answer questions on LinkedIn to build my network and generally be a resource.) Several recruiters have emailed me after seeing my profile on CHL or LI.

~ I understand you are a Writing/blogging instructor at BCAE & CCAE. What is one key point you would like your students to learn from your class?
I think it's great that so many students want to learn about freelance writing or blogging, but I try to emphasize that the only way they'll get published is if they take what they've learned and start sending out queries or writing a blog! Some people are so focused on learning that they aren't doing. There's so much to learn about researching, querying, etc. that it can be daunting, but it's an ongoing process. You don't need to know everything to get published. A lot of writers learn as they go. I'm still learning and many established writers are, too.

~ Your blog, Urban Muse, has won several awards and Writer’s Digest named it in the 101 Best Websites for Writers. Do you feel blogging is a good way for a new writer to start out?
Definitely! It gives you a creative outlet so you can practice writing on a regular basis and hone your voice. But don't expect to be an overnight blogging sensation, because that's how people burn out. Focus on writing good content and building your readership over time.

~ You have a huge following on Twitter! How can new writers harness this networking opportunity to improve their businesses?
By engaging with writers, editors, and any other followers. Twitter should not be purely self-promotional. In fact, people get turned off by that. If you're conversing with people and retweeting interesting links, then your followers are more likely to look at your links when you post them than if you're constantly and exclusively promoting yourself.

You can follow Susan on Twitter, @UrbanMuseWriter, visit her web site at Susan-Johnston.com and follow her writing adventures at UrbanMuseWriter.com.