Comparison of Digital Writing Tools
Digital writing is something that many people engage in. With more than 50 million blogs online, there is clearly a growing number of writers adopting digital tools. There are tools across the Internet that allow people the opportunity to share their words, although certain tools may be better suited to different kinds of writers.
Other People Are Reading
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Blogging
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Journal writing is a common writing exercise among writers and students. Some teachers require their students to journal regularly, and writers may attempt to emulate the great authors like Virginia Woolf and James M. Barrie, who were known for keeping journals. Blogging is a very useful digital writing tool because it so closely mirrors the traditional journal. Other digital writing tools involve entirely new publication styles and platforms, but blogging is a familiar exercise in a new place. One difference between a blog and a private journal is that it is going to be read by outside eyes. Blogs can also allow reader comments, which may then be responded to by the author.
Twitter
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Twitter is perhaps the most interesting of the new digital writing tools. It requires writers to think completely differently about how they write. A blog entry can be any length that the author wants it to be. On Twitter, however, barring the use of speciality applications, a Tweet is limited to only 140 characters. Despite this, it has become a tool used by journalists to spread word of their stories faster than ever before. In addition, the 140 character format has been used by Tweeters to write flash fiction, poetry, humor and more, all in a tiny space. The advantage of this tool is how quickly a message can spread compared with other digital writing platforms. If someone writes something brilliant, retweets can have the material reaching thousands of people within minutes.
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Liveblogs
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A live blog is a combination of Twitter and blogging. Like a blog, there are no limitations to the length of posts, and like Twitter, the posts are shared in real time. A liveblog is essentially live streaming coverage. Often, this is coverage of an event of some kind. Readers can follow along and see every post as the liveblog is updated. This differs from a regular blog, where one long post is typically posted at a time, and the writer takes time to go over and edit the material. When live blogging, writers are required to think on the fly, as they need to post quickly to maintain live coverage. Electronic conferences or trade-shows are often live blogged, thanks to tech-savvy reporters. Tech blogs Engadget and Gizmodo always provide liveblogs when Apple schedules media events, as an example.
Social and Interactive Media
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Traditional article writing has not died yet, but the way that articles reach the public has certainly shifted. Now, articles are written and can be submitted by writers to social media sites instead of just traditional magazines and newspapers. The upside of this tool is the exposure that it can potentially give a writer if a piece that he writes catches fire on any social media or social networking platform. Articles posted to interactive and social sites also invite comments and action by the reader. Social media writing is often about forming relationships with readers. The success of an article may depend on the reader feeling that it is worth sharing with others.
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References
- Teaching Today: Blog Basics
- NPR; Twitter, Instant Messaging Put Poetry In Motion; 2009
- Read Write Web Live Blogging 2.0; Sarah Perez; 2008
- Biz Community: Writing for Social Media is NOT the Same; Walter Pike; 2008
- Cyber Journalist: How Many Blogs Are There? 50 Million and Counting; 2006
- Absolute Write: The Power of Journaling for Writers; Erica Miner; 2005
Resources
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