Most people over the world hardly stop, reflect and review their lives to see just how different everything is from, say, a decade or two decades ago. It is easier to simply go through the motions, never taking time to see the world as it evolves. For the smaller group of people that do reflect and review, the enormous, life-altering changes are quite apparent. The tech industry, in particular, has been growing at a mind-boggling rate for many years now.
The social media space has also transformed how the world connects, making it increasingly hard to imagine what the world was like before the emergence of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networking platforms. The conversations that are now possible today via these platforms were entirely unimaginable just a few years ago. And we’re just scratching the surface, according to most social media watchers.
As these social media sites grow, they bring with them new communication tools that help us communicate faster and more effectively. One area that is benefiting from the advances in social networking is writing and language. Consider the following five ways that social media is benefiting writing and language for people from all walks of life:
1. Increases awareness of mistakes helps prevent them
You have probably found yourself in this position at one time on social media. Perhaps it annoyed you, but the point came across: you wrote something that was not grammatically correct and one of your friends took it upon themselves to correct you. At the end of the day, while it can be frustrating and somewhat annoying to have to deal with people who just have to correct your mistakes, it ultimately helps you improve your grammar, by increasing your awareness of the mistakes you make and making you more careful in your attempt to avoid them.
2. Differentiates writers
It is quite easy to tell apart good and bad writers on social media. While your friends and followers on social networking sites might have little regard for language and grammar, as a writer, you must avoid developing the same attitude. Their unremitting mistakes is an opportunity for you to stand out as a writer. This could prove important later, perhaps even when looking for a job.
3. Spotlights short writing
The very nature of social media shows us just how powerful short storytelling can be. Imagine the many vine videos that you’ve watched on these sites, some as short as 6 seconds. Yet, the intended message is still sent across. Watch and read enough of this short content and you will be on your way to becoming a skilled and compelling short story creator. Imagine using a followers hack to grow a very content-hungry audience on Instagram. Without the skills in short story creation, you will end up losing this audience with irrelevant posts and longer than necessary videos that do little to advance your cause.
4. Creates new words
We all remember “covfefe”, when U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted what seemed like an incomplete thought on Twitter last year. As people online began trying to find the meaning of that word, the whole incident once again highlighted the nature of social media to create words and change the meaning of existing ones. Facebook made “like” a noun, and instead of “befriended”, now people say “friended”: the act of adding a person to your list of friends on Facebook and other social networking platforms. “Storified” is a more recent example.
5. What we can influence
There was a time when the idea that more than 20 million people were watching The Oprah Winfrey Show every week seemed almost miraculous. With the emergence of social media, it is no longer such a big deal to have your video watched millions of times on YouTube. Indeed, now even an average person can grow an audience to millions without big budget funding from big corporations or wealthy individuals. This has transformed the society from a passive audience to an active one, where everybody has an opinion and wants to make it known to the people in their circle of influence, and if possible, even beyond that.
We hope you enjoyed reading this post about the ways that social media benefits writing and language. Feel free to share if you found this article useful!
Author: Marquis Matson
Marquis is a writer, social media manager and SEO content marketer. She currently lives on the coast of Ecuador, working remotely as a freelancer. Her primary focus is on building online visibility of new, up and coming brand, particularly brands that promote health and wellness. She lives a nomadic lifestyle, though is originally from California.
