I’ve just read yet another article on Twitter: an insight into the goings on at the company’s San Francisco headquarters. While it was interesting enough, I certainly agree that the media’s been saturated with Twitter stories recently. As with any topic repeatedly reported on, people are getting a bit, well, bored of it all.
So, the comments left by readers at the end of the piece were not a surprise. However, they did show that despite all of this coverage (and the millions that use it already), many people still don’t really understand Twitter and how it can be used.
I really don’t care what most of the 35million people who have Twitter are doing in their everyday lives, whether they can put it into 140 or 20 words, I don’t want to read about it.
I just don’t get it. why would I be egotistical enough to think anybody would be interested in my random thoughts?
It’s a site where you can post a status, this has been around for ages. It’s a Facebook but where all you can do is update your status.
I don’t think it’s important that everyone ‘gets’ Twitter or even uses it, but I think it’s interesting how its potential is misunderstood.
If at first you don’t succeed…
What’s my personal perspective? I’ve been using Twitter since the end of 2008, and it’s my second attempt. The first time was a result of feeling I should give it a go to find out what all the hype was about.
Like lots of people, I thought it was basically like the status update on Facebook, so I started out with similar comments to those I would post to my friends. I also looked for my friends on Twitter, but didn’t find many, and so I lost interest. I wasn’t sure what I was getting out of it and it felt like a waste of time.
Second time around, I decided to approach it from a business angle to benefit my knowledge and profile as a web copywriter. So, with an objective in place, I started tweeting about work-related subjects and news that interested me and, more importantly, people I didn’t know.
Facebook for friends, Twitter for business
And it’s here that I think the difference lies. For me, Facebook is for my friends – people who understand and want to read (!) my inane comments about what I’m doing because they know me and have a personal interest.
Twitter has professional benefits, helping me to connect with individuals who I would not otherwise be in touch with. Many are experts in their field and I want to know what they think on related topics. It’s purely a business interest; I certainly don’t care what someone’s eating for lunch and I won’t follow them!
And if you’re thinking of using an example of a celebrity as a ‘friend’ on Twitter, forget it. It’s a business decision to maintain their public profile; would anyone really follow Demi Moore if she wasn’t famous? Of course not. Although Stephen Fry might cut it – but he writes useful tech-related Tweets.
Sharing, spreading and breaking!
So, I don’t think Twitter will ever take off among people such as those that left the above comments. It’s not a Facebook status replacement, which would never work without all of those other elements – photos, comments, etc – that help it all make sense.
Twitter is about sharing information, spreading knowledge and helping to break news rapidly. And, yes, maybe it is an instrument for social change too. Only time will tell.
My Twitter tips
So, if you’re new to Twitter, here are my tips for getting the most out of it.
- Firstly, don’t use it because you feel you have to; if you have no interest in it, you won’t get anything back from it. But there’s no harm in giving it a try, is there?
- Decide what you want to get out of it; I wanted to learn more about accessibility, but it’s expanded from there into general copywriting, usability and language.
- Don’t use Twitter as a way to blatantly market yourself or your company, and don’t expect to find work directly from it.
- Write thoughtful, useful Tweets (which is possible in 140 characters!) that link to good resources and which provide value to your followers. You’ll soon find interesting contacts in your area following you too.
- Keep the number of people you ‘follow’ to a minimum (I follow around 175, which is probably too many), to make sure you only hear from the people that really interest you and to avoid too much ‘noise’.
- If someone follows you (and they’re not following 10,000 other people) take the time to say ‘thanks’. Don’t feel obliged to follow them back though.
- Try to keep its use under control; it’s easy to lose time on Twitter, especially if you work from home and you’re looking for a distraction!
What do you think? Do you have any additional tips? And if you’re on Twitter too, follow me!
Posted: July 15th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Social networking | No Comments »
One of my Spanish ‘intercambio’ friends has recently booked a place on a summer course in London to improve her English (which she speaks to a good level already).
She’s also booked a room with Nido, accommodation for overseas students. She received the following email from Nido, but asked me for help because she couldn’t understand all of the details.
Original letter
We are happy to inform you that your application has been successful and we have provisionally booked a room for you and your application is now pending. [Is the application successful or is it pending? This is confusing.]
In order to confirm your reservation, you will be required to make payments as outlined in your payment plan.
The refundable damage deposit and 2 weeks rent in advance is due first, shortly after receiving this acceptance email.
Please note that your damage deposit will be refunded on the same method it was paid.
A copy of your payment plan is attached.
There are three method of payments accepted:
Credit Card: Attached is a copy of the credit card authorisation form for you to fill our and send back to us via post, email or fax: +44 203 102 1001.
Bank Transfers: Bank transfers are accepted as well and a copy of our details is attached.
Cheques: If you wish to pay by cheque instead, it will need to be made payable to “Nido King’s Cross Limited” and this can be sent to us in the post to the following address:
Nido Student Living, Reservations Team, 200 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JP
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE A CASHLESS BUILDING AND DO NOT ACCEPT CASH
Once all required payments have been received your booking will be confirmed and we will require the following documentation:
- Acceptance letter from university or college
- Passport and VISA copy
- 2 passport photos
For further information regarding general policies, please visit our webpage: www.nidolondon.com alternatively a member of our reservations team can be contacted.
Your reservation summary is indicated below:
Name: XXXXXX
Period: 2 weeks
Check in date: XXXXX
Accommodation type: Nido single cube
Rate per week: £240.00
Payment plan: See attached excel sheet
[Table regarding 'Cancellations and refunds']
Extend the use of the tone of voice
At first glance, to a native English speaker, this is pretty well written and clear (as a standard response letter). But take another look and you’ll see that there’s a lot of words that could be cut out, making the information more concise and easy to understand for the intended recipient.
In addition, this email has six attachments! That’s an overwhelming amount of information.
And why the formal approach? Nido has a funky, youthful website; why not extend this to the confirmation email, which is one of the first communications with the student coming to stay, by using an informal tone of voice?
Alternative letter
I’d suggest the following:
Your application has been successful! We have provisionally booked a room for you. To confirm your reservation, you must make the payments listed in your personal payment plan (attached).
The refundable damage deposit and two weeks’ rent are due first; please pay them as soon as you can. After your stay with us, the damage deposit will be refunded in the same way as you pay it now.
We accept three payment methods:
- Credit card: Complete the credit card authorisation form (attached) and send it back to us via post, email or fax: +44 203 102 1001.
- Bank transfer: Our bank details are attached.
- Cheque: Make your cheque payable to ‘Nido King’s Cross Limited’ and post it to us.
Our address is: Nido Student Living, Reservations Team, 200 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JP
Please note that we do not hold cash in our building; we do not accept coins or notes.
Once we have received all of the required payments, we will confirm your booking. You then need to send us:
- a copy of your university or college acceptance letter
- a copy of your passport and visa (if applicable)
- two passport photos.
To find out more about our general policies, please visit www.nidolondon.com. You can also contact our reservations team, who will be happy to help you!
Your reservation summary
- Name: XXXXXX
- Period: 2 weeks
- Check-in date: XXXXX
- Accommodation type: Nido single cube
- Rate per week: £240.00
- Payment plan: attached
[Table regarding 'Cancellations and refunds']
Simple and approachable: not just for web copy!
This still isn’t perfect, but I think it’s an improvement – it’s easier to understand, simpler language and friendlier (with more use of ‘we’ and ‘you’).
These are generally thought of as things to keep in mind when writing web copy. It’s not a website, of course, but they still apply, especially as there is a large crossover of audience characteristics.
I’ll send it to my friend to see what she says and let you know! What do you think?
(PS – Dear Nido: if you happen across this post and like my suggested alternative, please contact me to request its use. Thanks very much!)
Posted: July 8th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Writing style | Tags: content, letters, style, tone of voice | No Comments »