Sometimes there are just too many words.
Yes, that was me who wrote that. A writer at her core. A person who needs words. Lots of them to express herself in the way in which she wants.
But sometimes less is more. Scratch that. When it comes to words, less is always more.
Writers are taught to clean it up and to show me, don't tell me. It's ingrained in the head of a writer. The little bird sitting on your shoulder - asking - is that word REALLY necessary?
Of course, today everyone is writing. If not the great American novel, chances are somewhere in the course of an average day a line or two is posted on Facebook, a Tweet is sent to your tribe, a shout out on Google+ or perhaps a cute little hook on Instagram. At the minimum you've sent at least one email or text message.
If someone has not told you about the less is more concept, you might not make your point.
-You might try a blog post that runs the length of one of those articles in Vanity Fair, which is great for a juicy magazine article, but considered a ramble for a blog that should run between 350-750 words.
-You might respond to someone else's blog post in 410 words with no beginning, middle or end that leaves the reader wondering what your point was and longing for the excess time that you seem to have.
-You might never get a retweet because the original tweet was just too long and there was nowhere to cut it down.
-That email you wrote to pitch a new client never got read because the reason for the note was buried somewhere in the fourth paragraph.
-The text you sent was so long it came in three sections which explains why your boyfriend still doesn't understand why you're mad. He never read it.
If your intention is being heard - or in this case read - get to your point. Keep it concise. Don't make us wonder what your point really is. In a world where our attention span has shriveled to that of a goldfish, there just isn't time to go wasting a lot of words.
Twitter forces the practice. For better or for worse. On the one hand it is a challenge to get to the point in just 140 characters (120 if you'd like your message retweeted). On the other hand, it forces us to get clear on what we want to say.
But even if you're not tweeting, the point of all this technology is to connect. The 140 character message won't always work, but it's a good barometer - especially if you want to make your point.
Someone asked me recently to tweet something for someone they were working with. It was a new product, one I had no hands on knowledge of. I love helping and I love spreading good stuff. Still, I said no.
I had my reasons.
I'm careful about what I attach my name to. It's a reflection of who I am and what I think and stand for. And I know that what I put out there, stays out there. Forever and then some. No matter how much I'd like to believe that delete button really works, it doesn't when it comes to the Internet. So I'm thoughtful about what I share and suggest to my followers. I keep it to the stuff I care about and know about and have intimate knowledge of.
For instance just the other day I shared a link encouraging people to vote for Laura Zigman in the Shorty Awards. I love her Annoying Conversation series. They are clever and well-written and they never fail to make me laugh out loud. I think she's deserving of winning.
This other request did not fall into such a category. At least not for me.
But I know everyone is not like me. Like everything else in life, many share on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest because they think by doing so there is something in it for them. They shout outrageous things in 140 characters or less, they might not say if we were standing in front of them. They post a picture on Instagram that guarantees they might never see that promotion they had their eyes on. They have interpreted having an authentic voice to mean typing whatever comes to the top of their head with absolutely no filter, followed by quickly hitting the send button without a care as to the repercussions their words might have. Again, things they might never say at a dinner party. Or maybe they would.
(note to self: do not invite those types to any I'm hosting)
In any case it got me thinking it was time to share the rules I like to follow when engaging in Social Media.
- Think before you post. To Twitter or Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ or whatever your social net of choice is.
- Post with integrity. By definition integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral being the difference between right and wrong.
- Remember that what you put out there will stay there. Forever. And a day.
- Your on-line engagement is a reflection of who you are. So think before you post, who do you want to be seen as?
- Being authentic does not mean posting the first crazy thought that pops in your head. At least not without taking a long, deep breath first.
- Being creative does not mean being outlandish, cruel or thoughtless.
- Don't share what you have not read or viewed. Sounds so obvious but it happens. All the time.
- Don't share what you don't believe or think has value or is worth sharing. The great thing about our new digital age is that really great ideas can spread quickly. So can bad ones. Your opinion can help to make that happen. So use it. Wisely.
