Holly here: I received a ton of guest blogs on Twitter, so over the next few days we’re going to see some different perspectives on social media, language use, and what makes it a good tool for the stealth marketing business (or not!).
In addition, for those of you who are in my teleclass, make sure you check out the link at the bottom. The Two Chicks have some crazy, unique, and memorable copy on their site. It’s a great example of being yourself loudly and proudly. Whether it’s to your taste or not, I guarantee you’ll never forget who they are. Thanks again to the lovely CaZ for filling in for me today, and I will see many of you later on at the teleclass!
If It Can’t Be Said In 140 Characters It Must Not Be That Important.
By CaZ
Has someone said that to you? And did you agree? The first umpteenmillion times I was told that Twitter is making someone a better writer, I didn’t disagree. I did (and do) think that declaring a 140 character limit for communication to be a good thing is an odd statement, but since I tend to be pretty choosy about which verbal battles I fight, this one did not seem critical.
I’ve tossed this concept about in my mind like cud in a cow’s multiple stomachs. My conclusion? If it can be said in 140 characters, then it might be informative, but it is unlikely to be important.
Before you start the petition to get me banned from the Twitter-dom, hear me out. Twitter is awesome and wild and fun and yes, even useful. I have Tweetdeck and I am as addicted to this phenomenal social media past time as the next million people.
Have you ever thought about what it means to communicate? Go ahead. Think. I’ll wait.
Arguably, talking to oneself qualifies, however communication is better served as a two-way process between multiple persons. And really good, effective, true communication needs an exchange of thoughts and feelings and non- language cues. I mean, think about it. Do you want the President (of any country) to negotiate a peace treaty through Twitter?
The need for government double talk to be cut to the bone aside, the thought of limiting truly important communication, like treaties and contracts or even every day news announcements, to 140 characters frightens me.
“Good evening. This is the 6 o’clock news with Susie Que. Our top story tonight begins with a letter in a bottle and a bomb strapped to the b”
That is 140 characters. I would like to know more. Wouldn’t you?
Granted, Susie Que could edit her words and get a few more details in. Ignore grammar. Ignore spacing. Ignore capitalization. Ignore politeness. Ignore the core of language as a communication tool and we might find out where that bomb went off—if it did go off.
Words are important to writers. And news reporters. And freedom fighters. And teachers. And business moguls. And marketing mavens. And…. And—you fill in the and. Words are important. The words you select and use will evoke anger, laughter, pleasure, warm feelings, confusion, understanding, mis-understanding…the list is endless. When it comes down to getting your message heard and understood, your opportunity to use those all of the words you need should be endless, too.
So I ask you, please do not tell me yet again that Twitter is making you a better writer because I believe that to be wrong. Twitter is making you more aware of the word choice you have and of how to put words together with limited grammar and punctuation options and still get your point across. This, however, is not writing. It’s tweeting.
Twitter—or something like it—is here to stay and I am glad of it. Language and by association communication must evolve or it dies. But shall we agree to give important messages more than 140 characters? Let’s say as many characters as it takes to achieve mutual understanding?
Candy Zulkosky (aka CaZ) is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur whose online home is a chicken coop. Find her at 2chicksathome.com, a website dedicated to providing assistance to work-from-home businesses. Making the leap to a work-from-home set up? Don’t do it alone! Get CaZ’s work from home bible for Free until February 15th.
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