The document provides guidance on building an audience on social media. It recommends picking the social media platforms where your target audience spends time and making your presence on those platforms seem human by adding personal details. The document stresses producing valuable, creative content for the audience and following a 70/20/10 rule for content types. It also advises consistently posting engaging content at a comfortable rate while monitoring analytics to determine the best frequency. Building trust with the audience is emphasized as key to social media success.

1. Writing for
Social Media

2. Why Is Social Media Valuable?
Gives you direct access to people who have an interest in your content, your
products or your causes. The door swings both ways, allowing readers to offer
reporters news tips, give PR practitioners feedback on events and show advertisers
what they think of a recent campaign.
Some things that make social media valuable include:
Access on All Devices - digital devices can fit in your pocket and you are never out
of the loop as long as you have Wi-Fi access or cell service.
Snowballing Audiences - Social media can help your messages snowball into areas
beyond your target audience, allowing you to reach previously unconsidered
readers who can benefit you and your organization. Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

3. Twitter

4. Twitter: News Anywhere, 280 Characters at a Time
Media professionals have embraced Twitter on a professional level in a variety of
ways.
● Public-relations practitioners can use it to promote events and drive traffic to
their web work.
● News reporters use it to provide live coverage of breaking news events.
● Advertisers can provide followers with exclusive offers, sales information and
product-launch awareness.
Twitter also allows you to drive traffic to your site through the use of micro-URLs.
Twitter is a great way to provide content to people in short bursts on their digital
devices.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

5. Twitter Is Leads And Headlines
Writing a good tweet takes more time and patience than most other forms of
writing because you have a limited space in which to express yourself.
The tweet functions like a headline, in that you can use it to draw in readers and
then refer them to a bigger piece of copy on your website.
It functions like a lead in that you are using it to tell people the most important
information first.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

6. Start With the Noun-Verb Structure
A concrete noun and a vigorous verb matter even more in tweets.
If you can identify the “who” and the “did what” elements of your tweet, you can give
your readers the key information right away. Once you have those elements, you
can build around them with some of the other “W’s” and descriptors.
BAD TWEET: Upon a day’s reflection, a story involving CIA torture has additional problematic layers
to it, senators argue. (LINK)
IMPROVED TWEET: Senators slam CIA torture story, say issues more nuanced than writers indicate.
(LINK)
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

7. Make One Point at a Time
The better you focus on the main issues associated with the announcement you
want to make, the clearer your intent will be to your readers.
The goal of each tweet is to make one good point at a time. If you try to do too much
in a tweet, you will confuse your readers. You can thread tweets if you need to make
multiple points.
BAD TWEET: Fix closets with three simple organizers from @VFhardware; rework basement shelves
as well as garden tool storage; Paint on sale too.(LINK)
IMPROVED TWEET: Got the spring-cleaning blues? Revitalize your home with paint, organizers from
@VFhardware. (LINK)
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

8. Use Smart Substitutions
Use numerals instead of spelling out numbers.
Use symbols such as & and % to represent longer words, always taking care not to
use the symbols that have a specific meaning in Twitter (#, @, *).
Look for shorter words to substitute for longer words.
BAD TWEET: Federal authorities arrest six in California’s largest methamphetamine bust, say ring
was responsible for 21 percent of state’s supply.
IMPROVED TWEET: Feds arrest 6 in Calif. meth bust, say men produced 21% of state’s supply.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

9. Edit and Tighten
Once you write the tweet, go back and edit it in ways that will eliminate extraneous
words.
Look for ways to remove prepositional phrases, redundancies and other wastes of
space.
Aside from keeping your tweet from getting too cluttered, you can make sure on
spelling, structure and clarity as well.
Treat each tweet with the same level of care you treat any major piece of copy you
write.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

10. Let’s Try It!
Rewrite the following tweets to tighten the writing, improve the structure and
sharpen the focus:
1. Immigration officials have arrested a Montana-based man who was a “local doctor” who immigrated from Estonia when he was a child and has
a green card. Officers say he committed two minor property crimes more than 25 years ago, when he was 17 and that makes him trouble.
2. The federal government shutdown has led to furloughs of just over half of the governmental employees in the country, shutting down what it
deems “non-essential resources,” including some popular monuments and parks popular with tourists—like the Statue of Liberty.
3. City workers in Philadelphia took to the streets Sunday to apply greasy Crisco to light poles and other tall street-side structures to prevent
Philadelphia Eagles fans from climbing them after the NFC championship game. They call themselves the Crisco Cops.
4. Each year, Mixton Soup Company (@mixsoupco) hosts annual “Soup Up Your Health” fitness walk. Rain is in the forecast for Wednesday, so
look for the “Soup Up Your Health” race to move elsewhere. The Oboye North High School indoor track will serve as walking site if rain hits.
5. Speaker @Iknowstuff: The difficult and tricky thing about online learning is it’s easy to do it alone, but that’s not how we do our best. There’s
a clear benefit to learning from each other’s perceptions/questions. That’s the value of social networks so we must involve them.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

11. Facebook and LinkedIn

12. Facebook
Facebook often serves as a social media
hub for Twitter posts, Instagram images
and live videos. In addition, many
websites will allow people to use their
Facebook profiles to log in or post
commentary.
This central junction point of information
can allow you to see what trends are
emerging and learn more about them. You
can also use the site to reach out to
decision makers and potential sources. Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

13. LinkedIn
Provides individuals with the opportunity to
create a work-oriented profile, seek jobs and
connect with people in fields of interest.
Employers can find potential candidates to fill
jobs, post hiring notices and seek connections
with like-minded people and organizations.
The site allows organizations to brand build as
well as connect with others as part of a grouping
function, thus providing both networking and
growth opportunities.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

14. Why Facebook and LinkedIn?
The purpose of these sites is to give you access to a large audience and draw them to
your content.
These sites also provide you with access to opinion leaders and field experts who
can provide you with feedback as well as access to additional audiences that might
benefit you.
You need to keep your posts short, engaging and valuable if you want audience
members to embrace your work and read on. The key to posting well is to post
frequently over an extended period of time each day. This approach will build
readership habits among these audience members and foster a strong tie between
you and them.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

15. Structuring a Post
Include a few lines of text that offer a simple explanation as to the topic, explain the
value of the topic and then entice the readers to move deeper into the story with a
simple click of a link.
With graduation weekend just around the corner, college students face the daunting task of getting
a job. According to a recent New York Times article, the biggest stumbling block students face is
properly preparing for the in-person interview. Our resident career specialist, Bill Jones, outlines the
five biggest blunders people make during the interview process and how best to avoid them in his
weekly post, “Big Bill’s Big 5.” (LINK)
This is a strong example of how to use a few lines of copy to draw readers to a bigger
piece.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

16. Building A Social Media
Audience

17. Pick Your Social Media Platform(s) Wisely
To draw a good audience on social media, you need to find out where people who
are interested in your content, cause or product are already and then plant your flag
there.
It makes little sense to just blitz every social media tool with your content if your
audience isn’t there to hear or see your content.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

18. Let Users Know You Are Human
The audience members crave attention and interaction as much as you do, so look
for mutually beneficial ways to connect with them.
Add profile information to your account, including a photo and interesting
background information about you.
Connect with thought leaders as well as audience members, as you seek to open a
dialogue with them. This will let people know you are interested in listening to them,
and they will want to stay connected to you.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

19. Produce Valuable Content
People will likely follow you on social media quickly if they think you have something
important to tell them.
Creativity and visual appeal can help draw people to your content.
Follow the “70/20/10 rule,” which means that 70 percent of your content should
provide a direct benefit to your audience, 20 percent of your content is “shared”
from other sources and only 10 percent should outright promote you or your
organization.
Make sure you are placing an emphasis on quality as well as quantity when it comes
to content sharing. One good post is five times more valuable than five weak ones.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

20. Consistently Post at a Comfortable Rate
Nobody enjoys being spammed to death, but few people enjoy being ignored either.
The trick to finding the right mix of timely and engaging content is to watch your
analytics.
If you are posting several times a day and you see a drop in hits or a loss of followers,
consider posting less often and placing a higher premium on the quality of your
posts.
If you see spikes when you post twice a week and then nothing for days when you
don’t, look for ways to spread the content more evenly across the week.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak

21. Key Takeaways
1. Everything moves fast on social media: Once you decide to step onto the social
media train, you need to understand that there will be little time for course
corrections or major fixes.
2. Anticipate the worst-case scenario: You need to play good defense before you
decide to make a post, send a tweet or start a campaign. Think about every
possible thing that could go wrong, reread your hashtag from the perspective of
a 12-year-old boy, plan how you will deal with trolls and hope for the best.
3. Trust is everything: The more trust people place in you, the better off you will
be, so put effort into this at every turn.
Dynamics of Media Writing, Vincent F. Filak