Writing for social media: a class for beginning journalists

Learning the power of social media with @stevebuttry today. @ManshipSchool #manship2010

— Kayleigh Spilger (@mcKayleigh1) November 4, 2015

Six times last week, I taught a class that I first presented last spring when I was interviewing for my current job at LSU: writing for social media.

In the context of a beginning “Media Writing” class that we require of all Manship School of Mass Communication students, I teach the techniques of good writing in the context of social media. While my background is strongest in journalism, I apply the points of the class to other specialties within the Manship School: political communication, public relations and digital advertising.

This is going to be a long post, probably helpful only to mass-comm teachers (or last week’s students who would like a review). But that’s who I’m writing it for, and it’s long because I want to invite you to use some of my slides and points in your classes and/or to invite me to cover these or similar points in your own classes or in a workshop at your university or a conference. Of course, I could adapt the presentation to a professional audience, too.

I will tell about the class mostly through the students’ tweets. At the opening of the class, I assigned students to tweet about my points, ask questions on Twitter, make observations, etc. during the class, so they would be applying the lessons as they were learning them.

Many of my slides from the class will show in the students’ tweets. I will supplement with some of the actual slides that didn’t make it into their tweets. If you want the full slideshow (which I’ve already updated since the last of this week’s classes), I’ve posted it at the end of the post. I welcome and encourage teachers to use the materials here however they are helpful, or to contact me to discuss how to teach this topic in your class.

I’ll add context here and there, but mostly the students will tell the story:

Tweeting during class?! What is this, anarchy?!? No, it’s part of a lesson! #Manship2010

— Luke Henderson (@lukehenderson16) November 4, 2015

Platform shapes the writing

I start with a discussion of how the nature of a social platform and your audience there shape the writing on the platform: the privacy of Snapchat, the professional nature of LinkedIn, the heavily female user base of Pinterest, the 140-character limit of Twitter, etc.

Different platforms guides what content is written #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/NGDKwUFyJt

— Adrienne (@adrienneb0797) November 4, 2015

Snapchat seems to be the most popular app in MC2010 section 3. #manship2010

— Emily Saibara (@emily_saibara) November 4, 2015

@stevebuttry agrees: Each social media platform & screen has its own tone. Posts should be rewritten to cater to the platform. #manship2010

— Chelsea Rainwater (@chelrainwater) November 4, 2015

Your snapchat posts would be different if your parents and perspective employers saw what you posted. #manship2010

— Kristen Bertel (@kris10bertelTTV) November 4, 2015

“Everbody in my graduating class who is alive and not in prison is on Facebook.” –@stevebuttry #manship2010

— gabby (@gabby_spraggs) November 2, 2015

Fun fact: approximately 80% of Pinterest users are women #manship2010

— Harleigh Nunez (@harleighnoelle) November 4, 2015

@billypattersonn : our only proud male user of Pinterest. Just shows the wide dynamics of social media #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/Zo6wlgNj4X

— Rachel Nicole Price (@RachelNPrice95) November 4, 2015

Social media writing basics

Part of my introduction covered some principles of social-media writing that apply in all situations.

Social Media Writing Tips: Get to the point quickly. Keep it brief. Consider images. Consider tone. Rewrite. #Manship2010

— Chelsea Tassin (@ChelseaTassin) November 3, 2015

@stevebuttry tells us that being a good journalist means being good @ re-writing even more than writing #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/GGjirapBSx

— Rachel Nicole Price (@RachelNPrice95) November 4, 2015

“Social media are platforms on small screens for distracted people.. SQUIRREL!” –@stevebuttry #Manship2010

— Chynna Paris (@chynna_lsu) November 4, 2015

I admit it: I did shout “Squirrel!” in one of the classes to illustrate the many distractions people face as they multi-task social media use into their days.

“Social media is an attention-divided experience for people on a small screen.” –@stevebuttry #manship2010

— Destiny J (@thedestinyj) November 4, 2015

On social media: “Get to the point quickly to capture people’s attention,” @stevebuttry says. #manship2010

— Patrick Gagen (@PattyGagen) November 4, 2015

@stevebuttry says to analyze anything you retweet for reasons why you retweet them and how to model your tweets after them. #manship2010

— Bailey D (@baileyanne1410) November 4, 2015

Get to the point. Keep it brief. You don’t have to use all characters available. Did I do this wrong? #manship2010 #twentyfourcharactersleft

— Tori Travis (@tortrav) November 4, 2015

Don’t just rewrite essays… don’t forget to rewrite before you post on Social Media too @stevebuttry #manship2010

— Baele Hasbrouck (@Baele_LSU) November 4, 2015

To have a successful writing career, it is more important to be a better rewriter rather than a writer. #manship2010 @stevebuttry

— Victoria Barberio (@VBarberio95) November 4, 2015

“Before you post, ask yourself, is this what I want say?” APPLY THIS TO LIFE PEOPLE #Manship2010

— Ella Ruth Hill (@ellaruth6) November 4, 2015

How to handle opinions

We also discussed how importance context (and your bosses’ expectations are) in learning whether opinions are encouraged, allowed or forbidden in your job.

To say or not to say? Opinions can be dangerous but also necessary, find out where you stand! #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/84hSJbijjR

— HowIGotMyGrooveBack. (@IAm_SWIMS) November 4, 2015

@stevebuttry: Opinions and personality are not the same thing. #manship2010

— Mercedes Mayfield (@mmayfi2) November 3, 2015

It’s not a thou shall not express opinions ever type of situation. Know your media role. Know what’s appropriate. #manship2010

— Tori Travis (@tortrav) November 4, 2015

Writing for memes

Before discussing specific social platforms, I discussed writing for memes, which appear on a variety of social media (and teach writing lessons for a variety of professions).

My favorite part of the day is @stevebuttry saying, “Let’s talk about memes.” #BringOnThePepe #manship2010

— Bailey D (@baileyanne1410) November 4, 2015

Never did I think I would be taking an educational look at memes in a college class. #manship2010

— Bailey Wilder (@bdoesmasscomm) November 2, 2015

Memes are a writing challenge. #manship2010

— Destiny J (@thedestinyj) November 4, 2015

I came to college for the memes #manship2010

— sofia (@tortillasofilla) November 4, 2015

Memes are important to media writing? Sweet! #manship2010

— Raegan Morgan (@raeganmorgan123) November 4, 2015

I always plan to update slides before a class where appropriate, and last week’s World Series win by the Kansas City Royals gave me some great memes to share along with the class (I wore my 2014 World Series t-shirt to Monday’s classes).

The art of memes with #Manship2010 and World Series winners @Royals pic.twitter.com/pvthKzAbiI

— Luke Henderson (@lukehenderson16) November 4, 2015

Guess you can say @stevebuttry is a Royals fan. #Manship2010 pic.twitter.com/wjhkjnSrmC

— Chynna Paris (@chynna_lsu) November 4, 2015

memes can fall into two categories; to be funny or to make a statement #manship2010

— Lauren (@laurrrandorder) November 3, 2015

“Memes are going to be of significant use in political communications.”-@stevebuttry #Manship2010 pic.twitter.com/8XueFomSCR

— Poot Cunningham (@TommyCunninghm) November 3, 2015

Hillary memes in #manship2010? Don’t mind if I do. pic.twitter.com/SEXQkm6odq

— Mercedes Mayfield (@mmayfi2) November 3, 2015

There exists an infinite supply of Hillary memes and they never get old #manship2010

— C Georgacopoulos (@cgxgeorge) November 4, 2015

Use less words and get to the point quickly. “Memes look for an instant reaction.” – @stevebuttry #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/AXSI8B6KCm

— Melanie Jo Smith (@wutthe_mel) November 4, 2015

Memes 101: they need brevity to be effective #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/hL8FJj7HEd

— G.M. Kelly (@gmkelly19) November 4, 2015

“A meme should give an immediate reaction” says @stevebuttry #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/MG8JITH0yY

— Baele Hasbrouck (@Baele_LSU) November 4, 2015

A note on updating old examples or visuals for a class or workshop: When I did this class last spring, I used some Rand Paul memes. Ben Carson and Donald Trump hadn’t yet risen to prominence in the Republican presidential race. I updated my slides for last week with memes about both. I’ll use the Carson memes in a later post about how he’s playing on social media and in professional media.

Font matters when it comes to memes #manship2010

— Karalee Hinz (@HinzKaralee) November 4, 2015

Error pages

I used error pages as another example of social-media-style writing in other contexts than social networks. For instance, the error pages of Clinton‘s and Marco Rubio‘s campaigns use humor in attempts to turn the error-page experience into an opportunity to volunteer or hear the candidate’s message:

“Public relations writing involves turning negative experiences into positive ones” – @stevebuttry #manship2010

— Hunter Lovell (@hunter_lovell23) November 4, 2015

Writing for Snapchat

Now we’re into the actual social tools, starting with Snapchat (which the students know much better than I do).

“Snapchat is a way to turn bad pictures into good Snaps” says @stevebuttry #manship2010

— Baele Hasbrouck (@Baele_LSU) November 4, 2015

journalism and snapsterpieces #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/dAMnzxXRIJ

— natalie (@NattyBHayes) November 4, 2015

Gathering material to write about

Though the course is about writing, I point out how closely writing and reporting are entwined. Making some points about using social media to gather material for writing, I use some examples from earlier blog posts about how the Denver Post used social media to get a great story and photos about a mountain lion staring a cat down through a glass sliding door in Boulder and a hard-news story about rape and victim-blaming in Torrington, Conn.

“You can’t write without good material” –@stevebuttry #manship2010

— Brittany Doucette (@Brittany_AD) November 4, 2015

Use the location search on Twitter to be able to find people that were present during disasters. #manship2010 @stevebuttry

— Elizabeth Ferrier (@_flizee_) November 4, 2015

I’d love to see my cat fight a mountain lion #manship2010

— Rachell (@RachellMikayla) November 4, 2015

Grab a screenshot bc in most cases tweets will be deleted if they are controversial #manship2010

— Margot (@mledet925) November 3, 2015

Tweets can disappear, but screenshots last forever. #Manship2010

— Elizabeth Ferrier (@_flizee_) November 4, 2015

This is what the players from Torrington looked like when they realized their tweets were on record. #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/KwvWXw8dHt

— Jaylin Goree (@jaylindgoree) November 4, 2015

I shared Andy Carvin‘s search tip for breaking news stories:

Using Twitter’s location feature in conjunction with a search for keywords like “WTF” can help with finding crisis eyewitnesses #manship2010

— Rachel Campbell (@rachelcaampbell) November 4, 2015

Visuals are important in social-media writing

In social media, I noted, words and your creative use of them can have a visual effect with or without photos:

“Words can become visuals with your creative use of them,” said @stevebuttry. #manship2010

— Tori Travis (@tortrav) November 4, 2015

Make your tweets into headlines #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/TOvoxAu4eV

— Rachel Nicole Price (@RachelNPrice95) November 4, 2015

Use the return key to make your words visually appealing. @stevebuttry G E A U X #manship2010

— Melanie Jo Smith (@wutthe_mel) November 4, 2015

I can use a return key as character on Twitter. Where have I been all of these years? Thanks @stevebuttry #manship2010

— Roxanne Kearns Dill (@roxdill) November 3, 2015

Cheat the Twitter system with hashtags and screen grabs. #manship2010

— Tori Travis (@tortrav) November 4, 2015

The tweets above refer to some creative use of returns and a screengrab from a court docket by the Boston Globe’s Hilary Sargent in her coverage of the Dzhokar Tsarnaev trial last spring. Here are two of my slides from Sargent’s tweets:

I show some examples of strong breaking news coverage in tweets:

@stevebuttry shows an example of an informative tweet, consisting of only a few words and a hashtag. #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/FzvKlhx7II

— Allie Dornier (@alliedornier) November 4, 2015

when tweeting breaking news, anything you know that is a verified fact is worthy of a tweet #manship2010

— alyssa brotherton (@alyssabrotherto) November 4, 2015

When breaking news on Twitter, ask the community for more information (pics, what they saw, etc.) #manship2010

— Victoria Barberio (@VBarberio95) November 4, 2015

When gathering information on social media, you should check to see if the source is genuine. #manship2010

— Allie Dornier (@alliedornier) November 4, 2015

I talk about how Twitter can help tell an unfolding story:

Turn tweets into a mini news story @stevebuttry #manship2010

— Peyton Short (@peytonshort_23) November 4, 2015

@roxdill: @stevebuttry: Every story is written 140 characters at a time. We just don’t think of it like that. @ManshipSchool #manship2010

— Roxanne Kearns Dill (@roxdill) November 4, 2015

I tell how Brian Stelter used text messages to tweet the story of the Joplin tornado when he didn’t have enough cell signal to make a phone call or access the Internet.

Man I thought I was outdated for still having Twitter linked to my texts. Turns out it can help you in a crisis #manship2010

— Rachel Nicole Price (@RachelNPrice95) November 4, 2015

Twitter helps your writing

I tell how Twitter’s 140-character limit can help your writing:

Twitter will help you become a better writer. It will challenge you to rewrite and make a more concise point. #manship2010

— Tori Travis (@tortrav) November 4, 2015

If your parents yell at you for being on Twitter all the time over Xmas break, just remind them youre becoming a better writer #manship2010

— Rachel Nicole Price (@RachelNPrice95) November 4, 2015

140 characters gives great practice at getting to the point. #manship2010

— Destiny J (@thedestinyj) November 4, 2015

Even in long writing, a succinct point is important

Toward the end of the class, I make the point that even in longer writing, such as books or political speeches, they should use social-media writing skills to make a memorable, brief point. I use those slides separately in an accompanying post.

“What is the tweet you want people to remember out of a long piece?” #manship2010 @stevebuttry

— Abbey ⚓️ (@AbbeyH113) November 4, 2015

‘Be your best self’

In the questions at the end of one class, I passed on this advice from a friend (though I couldn’t remember who). If this is your line, please identify yourself and I will credit accordingly:

Be yourself on social media, but be your best self! Thanks for the advice @stevebuttry!! #manship2010

— Bailey D (@baileyanne1410) November 4, 2015

Other students’ tweets

We wrap up the course reviewing the students’ tweets and praising them for some that illustrated the very points I had been teaching. You’ve already seen some of the best, but here are some others that I liked:

Notes from Writing for Social Media. Thank you @stevebuttry loved the presentation #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/wTEHp7qPML

— Abbey ⚓️ (@AbbeyH113) November 4, 2015

“Twitter helps you get to the point.” #shoutoutstevebuttry #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/7CGs2eDfbJ

— Payton Ibos (@paytibos) November 2, 2015

Repping KC in #manship2010 #Crowned pic.twitter.com/OUA0arGhWo

— Call me Mr.President (@MeesterVidrine) November 2, 2015

Pic of teacher taking a picture. #manship2010 pic.twitter.com/iXv9UIUtxH

— Gavin Dietz (@DietzGav) November 2, 2015

@SteveButtry stated, “accuracy matters,” while speaking to Manship students about opinions in social media. #manship2010

— Audrey Dawson (@adawso71) November 4, 2015

I don’t actually plan to boast/complain of being blocked, then later whitelisted, by Twitter for tweeting too much. But someone asked whether there was a limit on how much you could tweets, so I confessed to hitting the limit back in 2012:

@stevebuttry was blocked from posting when he hit the 100 tweet per hour limit, but was later whitelisted. #twitterVIP #manship2010

— Chelsea Rainwater (@chelrainwater) November 4, 2015

Unrelated advice on posting photos in social media

If you look at most of the photos posted above, they could use some tighter cropping. I’ll confess that I don’t edit all photos that I post to social media. The swift posting of live-tweeting in particular doesn’t allow much time for editing photos and keeping up with the story. But editing doesn’t take long. I’d say a quick crop and adjusting the brightness of a dark photo are usually worth the time.