Twitter can improve your copywriting | Tech-Write.co.uk

Bemoaned by educators since its rise to prominence, Twitter is regarded by some as the fount of all poor writing, txtspk (text speak) and shortened attention spans. But using Twitter can actually help you improve other core written communication skills whilst reaching customers and promoting your wares.

The 140 character limit to every tweet means that you must make every word count to get your message across. The very framework used by Twitter is designed to discourage flowery prose and adjective-filled passages. Twitter is all about brevity. Twitter will make you think about how each message you send is crafted to squeeze every last ounce of meaning from the 140 characters you are allotted. In short, Twitter forces you to become a great writer and?a great editor.

And for those adverse to deliberate?spelling mistakes, shortened words or new-fangled acronyms, Twitter will require you to increase your vocabulary if you are to create a coherent message which delivers value to your reader. Want to use the word ?dilapidated?? It will cost you 11 characters, so why not use ?ratty? (5 characters) instead? Just remember that on Twitter it really is OK to shorten words, even expected by most users.

By learning to be succinct in your tweets, you should hone the same skill for use in all your copywriting projects. No one likes to read extended, keyword-stuffed paragraphs of nonsense, so why not apply the same brevity to articles, blogs and brochures? And when you exceed that 140 character limit you will have to learn the art of good editing; a skill also valuable in any field of writing or marketing.

So is Twitter killing the English language? For some it encourages laziness, but for the committed wordsmith it may actually provide a harmless way to improve their skillset in a forgiving, generally friendly environment. If you have not done so already, give Twitter a go and see what you learn. If you are an existing user, keep going ? exercise your vocabulary and always keep a finger near the delete key.

If you want to know more about writing for the web, or have a project you would like some help on, why not get in touch? If you are already on Twitter you can follow us on @TechWriteUK. You can even scan the QR Code over there to tweet a link direct to this article ->

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Source: http://www.tech-write.co.uk/blog/twitter-can-improve-your-copywriting/

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