Everybody Writes, 2nd Edition



82Writing for Social Media

It's tricky to write this chapter. Social media evolves so quickly that by the time I get to the end of this sentence … Twitter has introduced and already killed another four features.

One certainty is this: The more social media ages and evolves, the closer the major platforms start to look and act alike—twinning like old married couples. (But less wholesome.)

Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have rolled out newsletter publishing capabilities.

The tone and vibe of LinkedIn are starting to feel more like Facebook.

My Instagram Reels is full of TikTok reposts.

Twitter threads are basically listicle blog posts.

Twitter Communities mimics Facebook Groups.

Twitter Spaces looks a whole lot like other social audio apps, like the erstwhile (?) Clubhouse. (Which may or may not still be erstwhile by the time this chapter is done.)

All that happened … when all we ever wanted was that Twitter Edit button.

It's tricky to write this chapter, then, because it's tricky to know what future-us needs to know.

So here's where I've landed, after thinking (and overthinking) this chapter: What follows is perspective about writing for social media. It's a point of view and a mindset you need. It's how to show up if you want to find communities on social media.

Here we'll talk mostly about Twitter and Facebook. Later chapters talk about Instagram (writing captions) and LinkedIn. Here especially, it's less prescription and more ethos. It's ...