How Not To Blog or Tweet

Actually, actually cringing over Elle Editor-in- Chief, Lorraine Candy’s advice to bloggers. “Self-censor.  Don’t tweet on the spur of the moment. Work out how you want to look, what your image is that day, and then post.  Think about the picture, blog or tweet in detail and re-read before you send.”  A huge part of engaging on blogging or tweeting platforms is spontaneity – the joy of the moment. I would offer the opposite advice – don’t post highly contrived looks that you’ve spent forever working out the detail for, and absolutely do capture the moment by tweeting without re-reading, self-editing or meticulously self-censoring. Honestly, who has the time?


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18 responses to “How Not To Blog or Tweet”

  1. Charlie

    OMG. She really said that? wow. Life is WAY too short for that. Of course, always bear in mind that once out there on the net its there forever…but really?

  2. Amber-Rose Thomas

    I totally agree with this. The difference between following celebrities and bloggers, is that bloggers as so much more genuine and real with what they tweet! Even if it’s the celeb’s personal account it still sometimes reads as a PR job. Not fun.

    Bloggers are real girls that readers like that they can relate to on a personal level – don’t take that away from your readers and followers.

  3. Jayne

    Hmm, I think she’s over thinking it. I would always say think before you tweet, but you don’t want to spend more time thinking about what to tweet than actually tweeting, that does indeed defeat the point.

    There are issues with people tweeting unprofessional or inappropriate things because of being spontaneous, that can cause problems, which makes suggest the think before you tweet thing. But this statement makes it sound like hard work!

  4. Lossa

    Ok, I didnt read this article correctly. I can understand where she is coming from cos I suffer from a serious case of “Foot in Mouth” disease. I will put my foot in to something and I think I will try to do some form of self censoring just so I don’t get a libel suit put against me or alienate the people I have come to care about within the blogging community due to some of my more uninformed opinions.

  5. I read that as meretriciously first time around, and actually it would have worked: it is meretricious to e-edit. It then doesn’t reflect a truth, only a highly stylised version…LLGxx

    From dictionary.com:

    Meretricious:

    based on pretense, deception, or insincerity.

  6. Oh blimey! What??? If this was my living, if I was a celebrity, if I was paid to maintain a public image, if I was a brand then fine. But really? We’re people! And we bicker and we get along, and we say stupid stuff and we say brilliant stuff and accidentally swear too much and accidentally wind people up and then make it better again because that’s what people do! Meh. I agree with you Jane. What a lot of nonsense. Anyone who is too perfectly polished is no fun. 😉

  7. Shannon

    Is she for real? I think like the rest of us, I’d rather be real and myself than waste silly amounts of time xoxoxo

  8. valerie @wildbeginnings

    Just depressing really

  9. The Driveller Kate

    She just doesn’t get it, does she? As a reader as well as blogger, it’s always immediately obvious when someone is obsessively editing themselves into meaninglessness. And the first reason for me to x-out.

  10. I love this advice. Couldn’t agree more. Honesty is what I like about blogging. Self-censoring stuff isn’t completely honest.

  11. If I did that people would think it was someone else tweeting from my account haha.. Yeah fair enough think twice if it could cause a load of trouble but seriously; every tweet and blog post? Nah I don’t think so!
    X

  12. Joanna

    Does she not understand the difference between a blogger and a journalist? The whole reason I read blogs is because I love hearing other people’s genuine voices and thoughts. If they were all written like magazine articles, with consideration for advertisers and libel lawsuits then I don’t think I’d read them at all. I want to be myself on my blog and give it my spin!

  13. Old Cow

    also, it just feel honest!

  14. Wow, just wow! So we’re all supposed to sound like robotic drones? I thought the whole point of blogging was for self-expression, and censorship really doesn’t fit into that!

  15. Meg

    Good advice if you work for Lush!

  16. Now, even though I have no possibility to read her whole Text, I do agree with her in some of what she says, but not in the sense of censorship directly. For me as a Blogger I always have to keep in mind that I am writing my stuff publically. And because of that it ist important to be concsious of what I write. As long as a blogger is blogging in free time and not living off of it, there will always be a boss who could check what I write.Sexual content, extreme aggression and violent content for instance is therefore off limits.
    Also it is quite honestly a pain in the butt to read blogs filled with bad grammar and typos. This makes a reader loose interest. I always proofread after writing. (If you find typos here now forgive me, I’m German and tend to sometimes write German-Style haha). This does not neccesarily mean I censor myself or keep my personality out of my texts. It just helps keeping the blog interesting/ building up interest from the readers.
    Keeping it real is what the readers/fellow bloggers love and want, me included. Although some bloggers do need to think about what they do, f.i. when it comes to b***fights with others, that’s just kindergarten.

    But I also have to say that Lorraine’s statement sounds much too …Editor-like? Hard to say but she does not come over as a real person, Who knows how much she thought about these two sentences before posting ’em.

  17. ohjoiedevivre

    I just keep in mind what the 19th century Irish playwright, Oscar Wilde, had to say about putting it out there – never put down on paper anything you would want to see published.

    Ali

  18. Gemma Meredith

    I agree, I much prefer it when bloggers seem real and not too rehearsed!
    http://theredoneblog.blogspot.co.uk/

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