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What If You're Not A Social Media Wizard?

Part 3: Keeping it Short and Sweet

Perhaps you have something to say but you’d rather deliver it in short bytes? Keeping your posts short-form has a few advantages: it’s quicker, you can appeal to the impatience of a large portion of the online public, and it takes less mental energy to come out with a quick thought than an essay.

As for last week I’ll judge each platform by whether they:

⭐️ encourage individual commissions
⭐️ are reputable enough to encourage corporate commissions
⭐️ are free to post on
⭐️ are attractively presented
⭐️ make a good place to get feedback
💩 present no hurdles to overcome prior to posting
💩 present high potential for a toxic community (somewhat subjective; humour me)

So, where can you post in short-form?


Buzzly

3/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The blogs here don’t have to be long, and the site has a poll option too, meaning that you can hit people with a quick opinion or a thought-provoking question (since when were questions long?) and encourage them to engage. They may also be about to introduce status updates, which are designed to be only one or two sentences long. As stated before, blog entries and polls currently aren’t shown on the front page but on the Feed page instead, so remember that you may struggle for visibility.

Note: if you want to make a blog post with text formatted to a link, you’ll need to post it on another platform and copy-paste it to Buzzly as, at the time of writing, Buzzly doesn’t offer link formatting for blog posts. It’s an easy workaround, though.

Example

//Several issues with Buzzly's leadership led to a mass-exodus in March 2022. The site may continue but at the time of writing its future is uncertain.//


Inkyblot

?/5

I don't currently know whether Inkyblot has a status update or other short-form announcement system but will check it out and review it soon. The site only opens up to new members occasionally so I will sign up when it's next open, which is supposed to be on the 1st of April.

No example currently


DeviantArt

3/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
1/2 💩

In addition to its journal function, DeviantArt also provides status updates.

Downsides: as per last week, you'll be up against an unwieldy web site design, a search function that seems to make up its own mind about what it'll show you, and you'll be posting in an environment with heaps of poorly drawn fetish material.

It remains a busy web site however, so if you feel inclined to try posting here, go for it.

Example


Discord

4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Posting something of the approximate length of a tweet in a moderately busy Discord server may net you the engagement you’re looking for. While your message may be quickly swept away on the tide, this could be a great way of delivering your message to multiple people. Just try to deliver your message so that you sound and look like a human being – I use my logo as my profile picture and have been mistake for a bot once or twice!


Facebook

4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Again, I don't use Facebook, but if you want to make a short Facebook post you can.


Friends, Family, and Clients

2/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ (although this may vary)

Who's in your existing network who has a web site? Perhaps they'll be happy to host a quote or two from you!


Instagram

5/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

While Instagram is designed to host pictures, you have the opportunity to make images with written messages on them. Use Instagram to spread a verbal message if you so choose!

Example


Ko-fi

3/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

If you want to keep in touch with your audience in a short, sharp style, Ko-fi can accommodate that just as well, because in addition to its blog facility, Ko-fi also offers you the chance to "Write a Quick Update" on its Posts page.

Example (this is the page only; there is no link to the Quick Update itself, it just shows in the feed.)


LinkedIn

3/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

While LinkedIn is made for networking between professionals, depending on what you're there for, you may be able to find an audience. Professionals need to take care of themselves too, and short messages are a great way of telling them what self-care options are out there without taking up too much of their time. I personally don't think LinkedIn is the prettiest platform, but it's popular, so you can certainly get footfall here if that's what you want.

Example


Patreon

4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The story is similarly true for Patreon. Each post that you make will show up in your supporters’ email, and the title of your post will appear in the email’s subject line. This could be a great way for you to say what you want to say – essentially with just a headline. They also offer polls, which can be a great way to encourage more engagement as you more or less answer your own question for people, which can help draw out your lurkers.

Example


Pinterest

4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
1/2 💩

Instagram and Pinterest are both excellent places to share images containing text. Try searching on Pinterest for “story inspiration” and see what I mean. Once again however, remember that there is a stigma attached to using Pinterest among artists.

Example


Reddit

3/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐
1/2 💩

You have two ways of talking in short-form on Reddit: by making an interesting post that get people thinking and responding (and if you write something that piques peoples' interest about the business you're in, they can contact you via the chat system. This has happened to me, and people on Reddit are overall not shy to do so), and by posting an insightful comment.

If you are interested in using Reddit but the idea of working on fulfilling the criteria to post an article or art doesn't appeal to you, this may be your best route forward as writing questions, describing your recent experiences, or commenting, rarely requires you to jump over hoops.

Try filtering for New posts in your favourite subreddits and answering the youngest posts. A well-written response written on a recent post that hasn't 'blown up' yet can be seen by thousands of people. Just be aware that if people disapprove of what you say or you post in a toxic subreddit, they won't be afraid to tell you what they think. Lurk and decide on which have a culture you feel comfortable in before posting.

Example


Toyhou.se

3/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Just as with many of these entries, blog posts (or in Toyhouse’s case, ‘bulletins’) can be nice and short too. You can even make polls! As ever, Toyhouse doesn't have the prettiest presentation but it's perfectly serviceable and is made for networking.

Example


Tumblr

4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

You can definitely write short sound-bites on Tumblr, and people can post their responses.

Example


Twitter

5/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
1/2 💩

The archetypal ‘short and sweet’ posting platform. Twitter has a bad reputation for being quite toxic, so take care of yourself. With that said, if you feel you can ride that storm, then go for it!

Example


Wikifur

4/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Some wiki pages are long, and that’s fine. Sometimes however, all that’s needed is a stub. Would that be relevant for the message you want to bring?

Example


Your own web site

5/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

If it’s your own web site you can write whatever you like in whatever way you like (legally permitting, of course), so perhaps hosting your own blog is the right path for you.


Read part 4: Let's Talk The Night Away

Credits

Title image by Bich Tran from Pexels and used with their kind permission.