Today I was scrolling through the New York Times and an article caught my eye. The article, No the Best Doesn’t Win, is about the Simple Secret to Success, and had to do with simplification (no big surprise there!). In the article, Shira Ovide explains that “It just works” are magic words. In a discussion about Zoom, Ms. Ovide explains that video meetings don’t seem like rocket science, but it’s hard to make something seem easy.
Remember Google Hangouts?
Despite doing about a year of Google Hangouts, it was never easy. First, you needed to log into Google Plus (remember Google Plus?). Then there were the minutes of searching for the Google Hangout. Once you got a hangout going, it was fun. But you’d have to close down everything else because it was such a memory hog. And very often it just didn’t work. Maybe Google heard our pleas, because recently they released Google Meet.
Social Media is the Same Way
You want your social media posts to be easy for your audience. Easy to read, easy to follow, and easy on the eyes. Give them a simple choice as a Call to Action. Do you agree? Yes or no? are both simple examples of calls to action. Don’t make them read ten thousand words before they get to the point, because you will lose them. Social media posts should be easy. Give them a short quote to entice them to read further. And maybe tell them why they’d want to read more. By the way, you might like How to Create a Wonderful Blog Post in an Hour. Yes, it’s possible to make a simple post in an hour.
Our Attention Spans Are Shorter
Back in the day, you could post nearly anything and people would read it. But now? The interwebs are crowded with blog posts, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, and articles all over. Videos can’t be too long unless they’re very compelling. And articles can’t be too long, either. Unless you have an interesting story, or a humorous point of view, most people won’t read all the way to the end. They scan.
We’re Visual, Too
Any graphics that accompany an article, blog post, or social media post need to be simple and enhance your article. They don’t need to be too literal, but they do need to have something that compels your reader to want to know more. Here’s an article you might like: What Happens When You Hire a Professional Blogger.
Are Your Social Media Posts Simple–Yes or No?
Let me know in the comments! (And did you see what I did there?)
Well… yes and no (of course I’d say that lol).
In my eyes, simplicity means explaining things or saying things in a way that people not only understand what’s being said but can follow the directions better if that’s what the article is about. I hate going to a page to learn how to do something, only to see that they’ve left something out. I’d rather have a longer article that tells me everything because simple isn’t simple if everything isn’t there.
On the other hand, I had to learn a very long time ago not to use large or complex words all the time in my online articles. I used to go back in and change words when I thought I’d gone overboard. It’s not that I’m trying to show how brilliant I am; it’s just that when I write, I tend to write whatever comes into my mind at that moment. Sometimes I leave the word in there, just because I’m not in the mood to modify something that feels like it fit so well; I’m like that. :-)
However… and this needs to be said… I will NOT write short, simple articles and such because I’m worried about short attention spans. I’ve always believed that you write what you want to write until you feel you’re finished, then you stop writing. If it’s 500 words or 3,000 words, say your piece; an audience will find those articles because there are still people who love large articles with lots of points to take in.
When I wrote a very long articles with 55 tips in it a couple of weeks after my 55th birthday, it got a lot of comments and visitors. Another long article with 31 blogging and social media mistakes got 100. Sometimes you just gotta have your say! ;-)
Hi Mitch,
I know what you mean about oversimplification. There’s an app that helps you write articles to a 12-year-old level, and for me that doesn’t work. I guess if your readers (or in your case YouTube viewers, too) have the average reading comprehension of a 12-year old, that would be fine. And it’s good to use a simpler word instead of a longer word if one exists. But simplifying for the sake of simplifying isn’t always the best thing.
I have the same idea when writing–that I write until it feels done. Hahaha–yes, I wrote a piece with 100 points to it. It took a long time to write, but I enjoyed writing it, and people seemed to enjoy reading it, too.
Thanks for stopping by!
Carol