{"id":3865,"date":"2013-07-01T16:20:06","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T21:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.encoretechresources.com\/insights\/?p=3865"},"modified":"2013-07-01T16:30:48","modified_gmt":"2013-07-01T21:30:48","slug":"hey-techie-pretend-youre-on-twitter-posting-clearly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.encoretechresources.com\/insights\/2013\/07\/01\/hey-techie-pretend-youre-on-twitter-posting-clearly\/","title":{"rendered":"Hey, Techie, Pretend You’re On Twitter Posting Clearly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gee, it occurs to us that the same approach can be used for technical writing that’s recommended in this Business2Community blog post<\/a> for social media writing. Really? Sure. We’re not talking about the quirky, abbreviated style of social media writing, just simple, straight-out expression.<\/p>\n

\"images\"<\/a>“Writing in plain English,” the post begins, “means writing in a simple and straightforward manner that lets you reach the widest possible audience.” With technical writing, of course, you’re not necessarily trying to reach a particularly wide audience (unless you’re writing a computer manual), but you want to “avoid technical jargon…” \u00a0anyway. You’ll likely need to be using specialized vocabulary, but \u00a0good writing is good writing, wherever it’s found \u2013 clear, direct, and usually to the point.<\/p>\n

Bear in mind that, while writing for social media is thought of as aimed at the youngest device owners, “older” can, in fact, be anyone over 30. They weren’t brought up or trained \u00a0on abbreviations and foreshortened words and expressions.<\/p>\n

There’s not a whole lot of difference between writing for the general public and for users of technical manuals or instructions. We’re all humans who appreciate being taken seriously. Should you be too casual with language, B2C notes, “People may conclude that you are equally casual with your customer service or quality control.” \u00a0There it is \u2013 technical writing equated with customer service! An appropriate pairing, indeed.<\/p>\n

Writing concisely, Brian Scott, the B2C writer, notes doesn’t mean turning out hamburger. His direct, perfectly acceptable alternative (real words) sentence for a Twitter tweet has only 81 characters. It’s not necessary to play “stump (or entangle) the reader,” online or off, after all.<\/p>\n

It’s certainly possible that social media writing can become too breezy for its own good, but so far, it’s really quite functional. So is the best technical writing. Remember that the next time you’re scanning Facebook before turning to your day’s paid writing rounds. \u2013 Doug Bedell\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gee, it occurs to us that the same approach can be used for technical writing that’s recommended in this Business2Community blog post for social media writing. Really? Sure. We’re not talking about the quirky, abbreviated style of social media writing, just simple, straight-out expression. “Writing in plain English,” the post begins, “means writing in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-technology","category-the-writing-life"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t