A Social Media Audience--Part 2
After I wrote the previous post about social media and promised to write this from my notes, I unexpectedly got in my inbox the entire slide show for Dave M.'s talk. That seems very generous and I'm grateful.
I'm struggling here with what is proper. Should I identify Dave more specifically in order to give him proper credit and add a piece to the effort he makes to attract a media audience? Should I link to a site where his work can be seen? Would he prefer for any reason at all to keep a low profile, and maybe be disappointed it I flung his name out into a space which he has not vetted or approved? I'm probably extra gun-shy because protecting others in my world sometimes demands ambiguity.
Here's what I'll do: If you wish to have more information, ask me and I'll be happy to oblige with whatever I have that seems fair to both you and Dave. Email me at miriam@iwashige.com
*****************
Here are the tidbits that I'm passing on, mostly from memory:
1. Since the various text enhancements that can be used in word processing documents are unavailable on social media, use All Caps for headings and titles or other text to be emphasized--to set them/it apart from standard text.
2. Separate sections or different content by using a series of symbols. Like this: ############. Any symbol could be used.
3. Limit your posts to the maximum length that can appear without triggering truncation and the "See More" entry. Dave thinks having to click will be too much trouble for some readers.
4. Use as much writing and proofreading help as you can put your hands on. Dave recommends a thesaurus and the online program called "Grammarly." Although I didn't catch it when he was speaking, I'm realizing just now that this might suggest that Dave actually does his writing in a word processing program before posting it to social media. That would certainly allow use of the word processing program's built-in editing helps. Maybe he talked about this in one of my sleepy moments.
5. In answer to a question, Dave said that you can press control + enter to move to the next line without accidentally posting (as happens automatically when you press "enter" only).
6. www.unsplash.com is a great place to find free images. Dave recommends always including an image in your posts.
7. Always reply to comments. (I don't do this, but I usually try to respond in some way.) I usually follow the rule though of not saying anything at all if I can't think of something nice to say. In other cases, I just need more time to think before I respond.
8. If you share a link, always give your take on why this is important and quote a paragraph or so from the article to give readers a sense for the article content.
9. Be generous. Praise the work of others. Link to the work of others when doing so can be a help to them.
10. Delete any negative comments. Do not engage a negative person. Block a person who persists in making negative comments. From the slides (about negative people): Their only goal is to bring attention to themselves and replying only adds fuel to their fire.
11. Create a supportive community by being open, not closed.
12. Do not share memes and do not comment on memes shared by others. Create your own memes if you like this way of communicating. Very rare exceptions can be made. This is perhaps one of the guidelines Dave gave specifically for writers. The idea seems to be that if you're promoting your own writing don't waste your opportunity to do so by using words that tell nothing about you or your writing ability.
13. Time your posts so that they're not buried under many layers of other posts by the time the readers you hope to attract get to perusing social media. The example he gave was this: "Don't post in the morning if your target audience doesn't look at social media till in the evening."
14. Avoid partisan politics at all costs. Failing to do so is a fast way to lose about half of your potential audience in one fell swoop.
15. Avoid religion. Discussing religion is also not a good way to keep everyone happy and on board with your writing. (See previous post for more on this.)
16. Try not to sell anything, although links to purchase are fine. (Remember, this is if you're a writer trying to gain a following.)
17. I didn't follow everything Dave said about linking between your writing and events, and the exact sequence that works best for writing and publishing, but the general idea seemed to be that you don't do your hard work of writing in a space and by a method that makes it difficult to make changes. Also, wherever you "show up," make sure that people can find the places you most want them to see--where your writing appears, presumably.
There you have it. What are your thoughts?
*****************
I just now read through this on the website and found at least three errors before I got 2/3 of the way through it. I'll be back to make corrections later. It underscores Dave's counsel about the need for proofreading.
I'm struggling here with what is proper. Should I identify Dave more specifically in order to give him proper credit and add a piece to the effort he makes to attract a media audience? Should I link to a site where his work can be seen? Would he prefer for any reason at all to keep a low profile, and maybe be disappointed it I flung his name out into a space which he has not vetted or approved? I'm probably extra gun-shy because protecting others in my world sometimes demands ambiguity.
Here's what I'll do: If you wish to have more information, ask me and I'll be happy to oblige with whatever I have that seems fair to both you and Dave. Email me at miriam@iwashige.com
*****************
Here are the tidbits that I'm passing on, mostly from memory:
1. Since the various text enhancements that can be used in word processing documents are unavailable on social media, use All Caps for headings and titles or other text to be emphasized--to set them/it apart from standard text.
2. Separate sections or different content by using a series of symbols. Like this: ############. Any symbol could be used.
3. Limit your posts to the maximum length that can appear without triggering truncation and the "See More" entry. Dave thinks having to click will be too much trouble for some readers.
4. Use as much writing and proofreading help as you can put your hands on. Dave recommends a thesaurus and the online program called "Grammarly." Although I didn't catch it when he was speaking, I'm realizing just now that this might suggest that Dave actually does his writing in a word processing program before posting it to social media. That would certainly allow use of the word processing program's built-in editing helps. Maybe he talked about this in one of my sleepy moments.
5. In answer to a question, Dave said that you can press control + enter to move to the next line without accidentally posting (as happens automatically when you press "enter" only).
6. www.unsplash.com is a great place to find free images. Dave recommends always including an image in your posts.
7. Always reply to comments. (I don't do this, but I usually try to respond in some way.) I usually follow the rule though of not saying anything at all if I can't think of something nice to say. In other cases, I just need more time to think before I respond.
8. If you share a link, always give your take on why this is important and quote a paragraph or so from the article to give readers a sense for the article content.
9. Be generous. Praise the work of others. Link to the work of others when doing so can be a help to them.
10. Delete any negative comments. Do not engage a negative person. Block a person who persists in making negative comments. From the slides (about negative people): Their only goal is to bring attention to themselves and replying only adds fuel to their fire.
11. Create a supportive community by being open, not closed.
12. Do not share memes and do not comment on memes shared by others. Create your own memes if you like this way of communicating. Very rare exceptions can be made. This is perhaps one of the guidelines Dave gave specifically for writers. The idea seems to be that if you're promoting your own writing don't waste your opportunity to do so by using words that tell nothing about you or your writing ability.
13. Time your posts so that they're not buried under many layers of other posts by the time the readers you hope to attract get to perusing social media. The example he gave was this: "Don't post in the morning if your target audience doesn't look at social media till in the evening."
14. Avoid partisan politics at all costs. Failing to do so is a fast way to lose about half of your potential audience in one fell swoop.
15. Avoid religion. Discussing religion is also not a good way to keep everyone happy and on board with your writing. (See previous post for more on this.)
16. Try not to sell anything, although links to purchase are fine. (Remember, this is if you're a writer trying to gain a following.)
17. I didn't follow everything Dave said about linking between your writing and events, and the exact sequence that works best for writing and publishing, but the general idea seemed to be that you don't do your hard work of writing in a space and by a method that makes it difficult to make changes. Also, wherever you "show up," make sure that people can find the places you most want them to see--where your writing appears, presumably.
There you have it. What are your thoughts?
*****************
I just now read through this on the website and found at least three errors before I got 2/3 of the way through it. I'll be back to make corrections later. It underscores Dave's counsel about the need for proofreading.
posted by Miriam Iwashige at
7:51 PM
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