You Don’t Know How to Write—Stop Using Social Media to Wave Your Tongue

Have you ever read a Facebook status and wondered if the author meant for it to come across in the way that it did?

Maybe they misused some punctuation and you had a difficult time following the train of thought. PERHAPS THEY WROTE IN ALL CAPS trying to emphasize a point, but instead it sounded as if they were yelling.

Whatever the case, far too many people proclaim their message on social media who know almost nothing about how to write well.

I say this carefully, because writing is an extremely difficult skill. For the past five years, I’ve spent at minimum ten hours a week specifically honing the skill of writing. And there are plenty of mechanical and grammatical mistakes I still make. So I’m not trying to say one has to be perfect at writing before they use it to communicate.

What I am saying is that if a person does not have a proper reverence for the process and limitations of communicating well through written words, he or she will most likely completely miscommunicate what they’re desperately trying to say.

I have seen passionate communicators, many of whom do quite well at speaking, look like first class jerks because they don’t understand sarcasm and hyperbolic analogies don’t come through well in short, scattered Facebook comments.

They come across as attacking and belittling.

I’ve seen wise and thoughtful parents, each with meaningful things to say, appear naïve and unintelligent because they used a semi-colon (;) repeatedly where they should have used a colon (:) or a dash (—).

These things may seem small. Often, the communicator’s approach is something along the lines of, “I’m going to speak truth and let the chips fall where they may.”

But it seems we have forgotten that when we use social media to communicate, writing is the only way people know our love and heart’s intent.

Most of us don’t have history with each other when we’re debating politics on Facebook—we don’t realize we’re actually humble, approachable people.

None of us can hear or see the other person to discern whether they’re upset, or just expressive. Perhaps in real-life they come across gently and caring.

All we have to go on, when communicating via social media, is what we write and how we present what we write.

So, if you’re not going to take the time to get training in how to write well, stop trying to influence people on social media.

If you’re not going to be patient enough to look over what you’ve written, let it sit at least thirty minutes, and then rewrite what you just wrote—in the middle of a debate about politics, race, or women’s roles in church—stop trying to share your thoughts online.

You alienate people from anything you have to say—and no, it’s not “truth” they’re alienated from. And when you do it as a Christian, you profane the name of Christ.

The limitations of written language are not excuses for coming across as rude. They are reasons to respect the medium and do the work it takes to communicate well through what you’ve written.

What are some of the most embarrassing things you’ve seen written on Facebook? (No, don’t say who said it!). Tell us in the comments, and explain how it came across in light of what the author may have intended to communicate.