Additional Considerations Concerning the Use of Social Media
In the previous chapter I touched on the importance of using social media. I believe that it is absolutely necessary for you to maintain a consistent presence on social media if you are to be successful as a professional blogger, but there are enough pitfalls in doing so that many of my peers in the writing community simply avoid it altogether. They may be able to get away with this because they are already established and have less of a need to self-promote, but social media is a tool that is essential for writers who are just beginning their career.
Understanding how to use social media properly is the key, so if you have used social media before or are currently active on one of the many platforms that currently exist you will have something of an advantage. For those who are new to social media, there is a bit of a learning curve, but it is not so steep that it is impossible to pick up quickly. Either way, I have some tips for using social media to benefit your professional writing career that should help you regardless of your previous social media experience.
When using social media to promote your work as a professional blogger, you have to do the following in order to be successful:
Whether you enjoy social media or you despise it, the fact remains that it is an important tool for self-promotion that you will be better off for using. There will undoubtedly be some headaches that come with using social media, but the audience you are able to reach and engage is well worth any bit of difficulty you may encounter.
Frequently Use a Variety of Platforms
You are probably well aware that there are a variety of social media platforms out there, and it is simply not enough for you to be active on just one of them. While you may prefer Twitter to Facebook or Instagram, your readers have different preferences. You do not want to risk failing to reach someone because of your specific social media preferences, so be active on them all. Most writing platforms include a sharing tool that automatically alerts your followers when you have added a new post, but you also have to be engaging on social media to truly benefit.
This does not mean that you have to spend an hour each day posting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+ or any other platform. Set up your site so that it sends out updates across all of your social media platforms and make an effort to be active on one of them each day. You will quickly figure out where most of your readers are and you can then devote more of your time to that specific social media platform. Just do not ignore the others, as you want to be as accessible as possible to your readers on all platforms.
Carefully Consider What You Post
This should really go without saying, but you have to be very cautious with regard to what you post on social media. Keep in mind that what you post is essentially permanent. How many times have you heard about someone posting something offensive or inflammatory only to delete it seconds later once the storm of criticism starts rolling in? For each one of those instances, how many times was the post saved and posted elsewhere? The second you post something there is someone there just waiting to save a screenshot, so be careful with regard to what you post online.
Remember, your social media presence is a major component of your brand and your identity. The best practice for maintaining a strong online reputation is to keep what you post relevant to your area of expertise while avoiding divisive and controversial subjects. If discussing divisive and controversial subjects is a major part of your writing, remember that there are limitations to these platforms that may make it difficult to thoughtfully explain your position. If you want to offer your insight on such a subject, simply link to an article that clearly lays out your position and your rationale, and do so politely.
Focus on Highlighting Your Work
It is vital that you remember why you are even using social media in the first place: to highlight the work that you have created. You may see many personal social media accounts engaging in general Internet silliness, but it is important for you to remember that your social media account is a professional account and not a personal account. You can have fun and be engaging while using social media, but remember that everything that you post should be somehow relevant to your work. That is why you have followers, after all. They want to know about you and your professional writing, but they may stop following you if you engage in some general Internet silliness or your posts are all over the place in terms of subject matter.
Grammatical and Structural Considerations
When using social media, you should understand that there is some shorthand involved and most casual users are not entirely concerned with the proper use of grammar at all times. As a writer, you should understand this shorthand but should also avoid using it with any frequency. If you feel the need to abbreviate something to squeeze it into Twitter’s 140-character limit, for example, just post a link to your site instead of using shorthand. Using Internet shorthand may make you appear unprofessional, so avoid it at all costs.
Be Polite and Professional Above All Else
Social media is a great tool for writers to use in promoting their work and engaging their readers, and writers should always do this in the most professional and polite way possible. As a professional, you do not want to come across as crass or rude, and you certainly do not want to alienate any of your readers by treating them poorly online or dismissing what they have to say. In every online interaction consider the most polite response possible and go from there. This will ensure that you do not unintentionally hurt someone’s feelings and that you are able to present yourself as a professional above all else.
Of course, you will very likely run into people who are simply trying to bait you into behaving in an unbecoming way just for sport. These people will direct offensive remarks your way and insult your work in the hope that you will profanely dismiss them or respond in kind by insulting them. Remember that someone who does this has no regard for their reputation and has nothing to lose by acting in this way. You, on the other hand, do have something to lose and do care about your reputation, so think twice before you respond to this sort of person. My advice is to thank them sincerely for their criticism and move on by electing to ignore them entirely. Engaging them further will only ensure that you inflict greater damage on yourself by making yourself seem unprofessional. Most platforms will allow you to block a specific user, so it is sometimes best to just offer your thanks and immediately block them before they are able to respond.
It should otherwise be your goal to engage in thoughtful discourse with your readers on subjects relevant to your writing. Always answer questions as honestly and directly as possible and allow your readers to feel as though they are an important part of your community. Accept suggestions and criticism from your audience with gratitude and try to show that you have used them in your writing somehow. My readers love that I introduce a topic they suggested by offering a brief word of thanks to the specific reader who made the suggestion. It doesn’t take much effort on my part to acknowledge the suggestion, but it means an awful lot to the reader and it lets others know that I am willing to give credit where credit is due.
As a professional blogger, you will find that social media can be an excellent promotional tool that is also a wonderful way to communicate frequently with your audience. It is not without its drawbacks, of course, but by following the advice I have laid out you should be able to avoid any serious missteps in using social media. Always remember that everything you write plays a role in shaping your reputation as a writer, and this is true whether it is a 2,000-word article or a 140-character Twitter post. Simply be aware of this fact and make every effort to be polite and professional in order to reap all of the many rewards of using social media as a promotional tool.