Social Media Writing Tips*

Jim Streisel | Carmel High School@CarmelJim

10

*In no particular order. C’mon, guys, I’m just not that organized.

Tuesday, June 25, 13

1. Keep it short...very short.

• Posts with 80 characters or fewer receive nearly 23 percent higher interaction than longer posts.*

• Twitter: 85 to 100 characters (max).

• Facebook: 30 words or fewer (nobody wants to “...Continue reading.”

• Type your post, then challenge yourself to write the same information using fewer words. (92 characters)**

*Buddy Media Research

**Draft a post, then try to make it shorter but say the same thing. (69 characters)

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

2. Write for people who are in a hurry. Be clear and direct.

• People check social media when they have time to spare.*

• Write for someone who checks social media accounts for a few minutes between activities.

*Like in the middle of math class. Or social studies. Or now...while I’m speaking.

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

3. Be humorous...but be professional.

• Crack jokes. Make puns. Play on words. Make people smile.

• People are more likely to share content that’s funny.* *But don’t make light of serious news.

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

4. Make content easy to share.

• Don’t make posts too long.

• Use active verbs.

• RT means “retweet.” MT means “modified tweet.”

• Dn’t go crzy w/abb, tho.**SMH

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

5. Have a conversation.

• Acknowledge when people respond to your posts. This shows you value your readers’ thoughts.

*

*Hi, Jill. I value you.

Sincerely, Me.

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

6. Don’t write a press release.

• Don’t be boring and dry.*

• Define your “voice.” Write for your audience.

• How do you want people to perceive you/your publication? Your writing reflects that perception.

*You in the back, stop looking at me like that.

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

7. Be nice.

• Don’t tick off your readers; you’ll lose them.

• If you aren’t funny, don’t try to be.

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

8. Be knowledgeable.• Be an expert

on all things _____ High School.

• Make your social media feeds something that people will WANT to follow.

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

9. Avoid texting slang if at all possible.

• All of that BFF and LOL and SMH is just too darn confusing.*

*Remind me to tell you an LOL story when I see you next. Oh, and I have one that involves FTK as well. Good stuff.

**WTF?!

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

10. Don’t rush.

• It’s better to be accurate than first.

• Spend a couple of minutes on each tweet before you send it to edit and polish.

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13

The bottom line.

• Be smart.

• Be professional.

• Be accurate.

• Be nice.

• You’re building your “brand.” You’re building your publication’s brand.

@CarmelJim

Tuesday, June 25, 13