What advantages and disadvantages does social media present to the modern writer?

aprilswanellie
Nov 18, 2018
6 min read

Social media presents many advantages and disadvantages to the modern writer, particularly as it has become an integral part of modern living. ‘Media & Everyday Life’ makes the point that ‘The Difference between being on social media and not being on social media is often difficult to discern…the distinction becomes meaningless, and it makes more sense to think of social media as ambient, all around you, whether you pay attention to them or not’ (Markham, 2017). It is clear that social media is now a normal part of life for most people. However, many have divided opinions on social media and how it should be used. For modern writers, it is important to consider whether or not using social media will help or hinder their careers.

One clear advantage of social media for the modern writer is that it can be used for publicity and promotion. It was stated by ‘HuffPost’ that ‘Social media tools allow publicists to interlock all the activities into a cohesive campaign. Through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Slideshare, features on websites, and blog reviews they can get more exposure and help build the clients’ reputations in their target communities’ (Burke, 2011). Whether writers make their posts themselves or go through a publicist, there is a tendency towards creating promotional content. One example of a social media platform used for promotion is Twitter where essential information about a writer’s work is distilled into efficient posts, due to the one hundred and forty character limit. These can be used to reach a wide audience, as well as to inform existing fans of any new work. As such, it is clearly advantageous for writers to promote themselves in this way.

Social media is also considered useful as a research platform. Although facts gathered online can be unreliable, interesting opinions and observations are regularly posted by people from a variety of countries and backgrounds. Being able to learn about different viewpoints is valuable to a writer because it can help them to develop realistic characters. There are many people on social media who can be used for both inspiration and information. Blogging platforms are particularly useful for this, as bloggers regularly post personal information about themselves and use a casual, individual voice. YouTube is similarly helpful, as daily vlogs (Video blogs) have that same personal quality with the benefit of added visual information. For example, if a writer is creating a character from a different area to the one they live in, it may be difficult to gauge the kind of language this person would use. According to ‘Dent’s Modern Tribes’, ‘Every sport, every profession, every group united by a single passion draws on a lexicon that is uniquely theirs, and theirs for a reason’ (Dent, 2016). By reading the daily blog-posts or watching the vlogs of a person from the character’s area, the writer should be able to learn the right slang and dialect to use for their character. This advantage is one that is particularly relevant in the modern age, as cultural sensitivity is considered very important. A writer who is able to create a believable image of an existing culture is likely to receive praise for their work. This makes social media an invaluable research tool.

A writer may find it advantageous to gather feedback on any previous work using social media. One way this can be accomplished is through twitter polls. Twitter users can create polls that allow their followers to give answers to specific multiple-choice questions. This can be used to see whether or not their followers liked their most recent work, or to learn what they are hoping for in the next one. A hypothetical example that a writer could ask is “Do I need to work harder to improve my plots, characters or grammar?” and that writer’s audience could give their opinion on which area they think most needs improvement. A writer could also use this to get help choosing a genre or a character’s name. This is a great way to interact with fans that is both helpful to the writer and makes the audience feel heard. Included in ‘BBC Three's 10 tips for social media success’ is advice to ‘Talk and interact with audiences online in the way they want to be talked to’ (BBC, 2017). For a writer, this can mean involving the audience in the writing process. This is certainly a useful advantage of being a modern writer and having easy access to an online audience.

Despite the fact that there are many advantages, social media is still surrounded by controversy. This is because social media can also be extremely problematic, and can therefore present disadvantages to the modern writer. One issue is that there is a constant pressure to remain in contact with your audience. A writer may find it useful to receive feedback from their readers but comments can cause a writer to become overly self-conscious, particularly if a large amount of these comments are unkind or cruel. If a writer loses confidence in their writing, then the quality of their work may decrease which could lead to further negativity from their audience. This vicious cycle is dangerous. According to a recent report, ‘Close to half of internet users say they have seen hateful content online in the past year (47%), with one in seven (14%) saying they have ‘often’ seen this’ (Ofcom, 2018). One platform where this issue is particularly prominent is the blogging platform Tumblr. On Tumblr, people are often keen to give their opinions. This is easy because questions can be sent anonymously, and both accounts and posts can be created and deleted quickly. This lets people distance themselves from anything they may send to a writer. Despite the problems associated with this state of constant exposure, it can be even more of a risk for a writer to avoid interacting with fans altogether. Writers who don’t post on social media face a backlash from their audience. People can get offended, or begin to think of the writer as aloof or pretentious. This is a major disadvantage to any writer, as there does not seem to be a perfect solution.

The distracting nature of social media can cause problems for a modern writer. Writing takes a lot of time, patience and motivation. Avoiding writing can be a serious issue for some writers, and social media provides a further hinderance in the area of procrastination. Twitter is particularly notorious for harbouring this problem. It is too easy to waste large amounts of time scrolling through your Twitter homepage, instead of finishing a piece of writing. It can seem as though you are only taking a short break, but instead you have spent over an hour that you could have put into working. In ‘Blog Theory’ it is suggested that ‘In the twenty-first century, spending time online is suspected to be as much of a time-waster as watching television’ (Dean, 2010). Ultimately, the amount of time wasted on social media is a tremendous disadvantage for the modern writer.

Social media can be particularly harmful to the modern writer because of the way people tend to present themselves online. Celebrities generally only post the parts of their lives that are glamourous or interesting, which can help them to be seen as either admirable or relatable by their audience. However, this means that there is a pressure to always post the right thing, to the point where a writer may spend a lot of time editing content in order to present an fascinating persona. Instagram is a photo posting platform where this issue is common. Most profiles are flooded with high-quality edited photos, often with consistent colour schemes and aesthetics. This can be a challenge to a writer whose skill set is word based, not photography based. It can be hard to know what may attract new readers, and what may repulse a writer’s existing fans. According to ‘Reading The Comments’, ‘…we’ve only begun to think about how to maintain such self-esteem in the online realm. Instead, many seem preoccupied with refashioning themselves (be it at the gym or in photoshop) and with their standing relative to others, which might actually be making them feel worse’ (Jr, 2015). The stress of showing only the good parts of life can be difficult and is therefore a disadvantage to a modern writer.

In conclusion, there are a great number of advantages and disadvantages that social media presents to the modern writer, such as publicity and time-wasting. Some examples are more severe than others, but all of them can greatly influence a writers life – for better or for worse. It is crucial that both writers and fans consider each side of the argument very carefully before interacting online to avoid creating dangerous situations.

Bibliography

BBC, 2017. BBC Three's 10 tips for social media success.

Burke, F., 2011. Publicity and Social Media: A Match Made in Heaven. The Huffington Post.