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Re: Tech Writing for Social Networks (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
Subject:Re: Tech Writing for Social Networks (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) From:Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com> To:Julie Stickler <jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Tue, 2 Jun 2009 13:56:41 -0400
Unfortunately I can't tell you how to build your specific business
case around social media any more than I can how to be the star at
your inlaws' next dinner party. ;)
And I wouldn't think only in the vein of Facebook and Twitter.
Consider fostering a crowdsourcing environment both internally and
externally, leverage the teamroom mentality and functionality that the
web has to offer, and think beyond "what should I be doing" to get to
"what do these people need, how do they need it, and what do I have to
do to get those answers and then deliver it to them?"
On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Julie Stickler <jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 11:28 PM, Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>> Nothing folksy about it. You're literally engaging people one on one
>> or in small groups. You're not directly providing a deliverable in
>> social media.
>
> OK, just playing devil's advocate here.
>
> So according to this new social media paradigm I, the admittedly
> introverted technical writer, should be spending my working hours
> pretending to be extroverted and chatting up users on the Internet?
> Or is social media better suited to sales and marketing, where there
> are more extroverted personalities?
>
> How many hours a day would one be getting paid to do this? How many
> tweets a day is sufficient before a writer can get back to writing
> documentation?
>
> Really, I'm curious as to how this fits in with the "too much work,
> not enough writers" scenario that I've encountered at every tech
> writing gig that I've had so far. And considering how many tech
> writers I know are out of work, is this really something that
> employers are willing to pay me to do? Or is it just one more task
> to add to the already long list of tasks that a technical writer is
> expected to perform?
>
> Discuss.
Available for contract and full time opportunities. No, I don't do
birthday parties.
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