Social Media Style Guide

A Collaborative Composition by English 650, Spring 2016

Our Definition of Social Media *Contributor

Social media are ever-changing and adaptable system(s) of digital platforms which
function as microsystems converging under the larger ecosystem of the internet.
SM allows users to participate, connect, interact, construct, convey, or manipulate a
public or private identity or worldview, ultimately encouraging users to connect with
others. Platform owners and users exist in constant flux and negotiation about how the
platforms are used. Platforms empower individual expression and social interactivity
and community building, yet also exploit the same (consumers) for its own commercial
gain through involuntarily shared data.

Style Guide Site Map

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube (Vimeo)
Instagram & Snapchat
Tumblr (Microblogging)
Crowdsourcing (Crowdfunding platforms, etc.) *Contributor
Pinterest
GENRE Alphabetic Text*Contributor
GENRE Combination
GENRE Other
GENRE Visual Text

Crowdsourcing (crowdfunding platforms, petitions, etc.)

Crowdfunding
Crowdsourcing: the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting
contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than
from traditional employees or suppliers (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) The term was first
officially used by Jeff Howe in a 2006 article in Wired

Examples: Change.org, Wikipedia etc.

Crowdfunding: the practice of soliciting financial contributions from a large number of people
especially from the online community (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) The term crowdfunding was
coined by entrepreneur Michael Sullivan in 2006. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing.
Benefits: Removes the potential physical and emotional constraints associated with receiving
financial support from people. Project creators should expect, however, to share their campaign
first with people they know in real life. The idea is then, that all of those people will share with
their social networks and so on, like a SM ripple effect.

Background
Kickstarter
Kickstarter helps artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the
resources and support they need to make their ideas a reality. To date, tens of thousands of
creative projects big and small have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter
community.

Fast Facts

Founded by: Yancey Strickler, Charles Adler, Perry Chen

Launched: April 28, 2009
$2,277,151,612 total dollars pledged to Kickstarter projects
102,609 Successfully funded projects
10,560,260 Total backers
3,295,985 Repeat backers
29,165,512 Total pledges

Global community = reaches 10 million people internationally

Anyone can create a project on Kickstarter for free. After creating a profile page, each creator
sets a fundraising goal and a deadline for their project. If the project succeeds in reaching its
fundraising goal by the deadline, all the backers banking information is charged with their
pledged amount. However, if a project does not meet their deadline, no one is charged and the
project flops.
Just last year, in 2015, Kickstarter became a Benefit Corporation, which are for-profit
companies that are obligated to consider the impact of their decisions on society, not only
shareholders. Radically, positive impact on society becomes part of a Benefit Corporations
legally defined goals. So even though Kickstarter is technically a for-profit organization, it
functions in the spirit of a non-profit. You can click here to view Kickstarters charter.

GoFundMe
Based in San Diego and Menlo Park, GoFundMe was launched on May 10, 2010 and has
quickly become the Worlds #1 fundraising site for personal causes and life-events. Millions of
people have raised over $2 Billion in the past 365 days.
Fast Facts:

Founded by:
Launched in: May 10, 2010
$2 Billion raised in the past year
$4M is raised by users per day
Worlds #1 Fundraising Website
5-Minute Customer Support

This is the crowdfunding site to use for personal causes and life events. Like Kickstarter, it
opens up a space for community based problem solving and support. For safety reasons, the
website suggests donors to only fund campaigns started or referred by people they know and
trust in real life.
Its free to sign up for an account. 8% of each donation is deducted to cover the costs of credit
card processing and company operating expenses. Unlike Kickstarter, GoFundMe is not all or
nothing. Projects keep any money they raise, regardless of whether they reached their
fundraising goal by their deadline. Project creators can withdraw or accept their funds at any
time, and the withdrawals wont affect the progress bar.

Audience Analysis
Who creates campaigns on crowdfunding websites and why?
Kickstarter: Inventors, artists, game makers, production companies etc.
GoFundMe: Regular people in need. Common causes for a GoFundMe campaign are:
unexpected medical expenses (humans and pets), funeral & memorial expenses, education
costs, and volunteer programs.

81.6 % in U.S
2.8% Canada
2.4% U.K
1.6% Australia

Who donates to these campaigns?

Generally speaking.

They are typically married homeowners

47% have a household income of $100,000 or more

62% have a net worth of $250,000 or more
19% made more than one donation
79% are college educated
42% are aged 55-74
51% are female
For more information, check out this infographic.
Kickstarter: Fans/consumers of the artwork/product. They are motivated because the backers
get exclusive benefits (bonus artwork, shout outs) and they feel like a contributor. Should be
known to the creator in some capacity outside of the internet.

Spreading the Word: Every creator gets a breakdown of who is referring their campaign
whether via links to your project from social media, other online communities, or hearing about it
directly from Kickstarter.

GoFundMe: Donors are motivated primarily because they want to feel good and help support
someone struggling in their community. Should be known to the campaign manager in some
capacity outside of the internet.

Language Composition
Content & Organization
While each Kickstarter campaign varies depending on the goals of the creators, the content they
choose to include is always broken down in sections with specific headings so readers can
browse and skim until they find the information they are looking for.
Sections most often included in successful campaigns:

Introduction: This is usually where he creators explain not only the end product they are selling
(be it a physical product, an artistic creation or something else), but also where they explain who
they are. They try to sell readers on themselves and often explain where the idea for the product
originated.
Ex.: Exploding Kittens is a highly strategic kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. Players
take turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten and loses the game. [...] The
game was created by Elan Lee (Xbox, ARGs), Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal), and Shane Small
(Xbox, Marvel). We think this game combines all the things we're best at creating, and and put
together this Kickstarter campaign because we can't build this without you. (Exploding Kittens
campaign)
Breakdown of Expenses vs. Funds Needed: Each Kickstarter campaign has a funding goal
posted they need to reach in order to actually create their product. If they do not reach this goal,
Kickstarter does not actually charge the contributors, the creators do not receive any of the
money and the campaign fails. Many campaigns often explain not only why they set a particular
goal, but also provide a breakdown of exactly where the contributions will go.
Ex. from Shipwrecked Comedys Poe Party campaign

:
How It Works: Some projects are fairly self-explanatory from the title and the brief introduction.
Others require a more in-depth explanation of exactly how the product works so contributors
know exactly what they will get.
The Rewards: Every Kickstarter campaign offers rewards to its contributors. Some are as
simple as the actual product being sold (the Exploding Kittens card game for example), but
campaigns will often include other rewards for larger contributions. All rewards are detailed on a

sidebar, as part of Kickstarters overall website design. This sidebar includes the name for the
reward, the price and a description. Some campaigns also provide a more in-depth section in
their campaign description of each reward to entice readers to contribute more or further sell
them on the value of a particular reward.
Ex. from the Poe Party campaigns sidebar:

sidebar reward.PNG
o

Stretch Goals: While each campaign has a monetary goal that must be met in order to be
successful, readers can continue to contribute after this goal has been met, until the campaign
reaches its set send date. In order to encourage this, creators will often list stretch goals. This
section explains what that extra money will go toward. Often, these goals improve upon or
expand the scope of the original product.
Ex: Stretch Goal #1 - $58,000: If we hit $58K, we'll be able to make bonus author content that
we will release leading up to the series to introduce our fabulous literary guests. Ever wanted
Hemingway to teach you how to clean a knife? Wonder what Mary Shelley's thoughts on I,
Frankenstein would be? Hit this goal, and we'll find out! (Poe Party campaign).
What the Contributors have Achieved with Their Contributions: This section not only shows
the contributors what they have helped achieve with the campaign, but also shows potential
contributors how close they are to achieving something else. This may take the form of stretch
goals accomplished or simply an infographic that shows what achievements (as designated by
the creators) have been unlocked to allow for more rewards.
Risks and Challenges: On Kickstarter, contributors are purchasing a product and rewards that
do not yet exist. Even if the campaign is successful and fully funded, creators are still
responsible for following through with their plan. By being upfront about the risks of
accomplishing their goals, creators hope to reassure contributors that they will see the final
result.

Ex.: The biggest challenge for us would actually be if you blow us out of the water. We're
already working with our pals at Cards Against Humanity to make sure that no matter how many
people pledge, everyone gets their Exploding Kittens quickly after the campaign ends. None of
us want this to be a campaign where you spend the next two years getting fifty emails about
production updates and delays (Exploding Kittens campaign).
FAQ: The Frequently Asked Questions section of the campaign covers anything else that may
not have been included in the other sections. The creators also repeat information here, in case
readers were unable to find it in the above sections.
Updates: On the main campaign page, there is a separate tab for Updates. Here, the creators
write posts about how the campaign is doing, how far away they are from reaching their goal or
stretch goals, and anything they have decided to add to the campaign. These updates keep
contributors informed about the campaigns progress before it actually finishes. These updates
also keep contributors interested and may induce them to contribute more or purchase other
rewards after their initial contribution. Through the updates, creators can also foster a
community between the contributors, which may convince them to contribute to the creators
future campaigns as well.

Style
Throughout these Kickstarter campaigns, the creators use overtly persuasive style.

Creators persuasive goals:

o

The campaign is trustworthy and will follow through with its plan to create the initial
product being sold

The product itself is worth purchasing or supporting before it actually exists

The extra rewards offered are worth the investment

The language creators employ directly appeals to the reader through the use of the second person,
often outlines qualities valued by those they see as interested in contributing, and continually
emphasizes that this product cannot and will not exist without the help of the community.
For example, in Shipwrecked Comedys campaign for their YouTube miniseries Poe Party, they open
their introduction with the line Shipwrecked Comedy wants to throw a murder mystery dinner party for
the ages, but we cant do it without your help! In their general description of the web series, they go on
to say There will be comedy, intrigue, romance, and of course, murderand we want you to be a part
of it, inviting potential contributors into Shipwreckeds community. The creators of the Exploding Kitten
card game plead that we can't build this without you, before continuing on to point out that if you're
into card games or laser beams or weaponized enchiladas, please help us make this game a reality. We
think you'll love it as much as we do. Essentially, they point out (comedic) potential interests they hope
the readers have, and then go on to say that their game embodies these interests and therefore readers
will love it, and should contribute to the campaign to create it.

Content & Organization

The organization of GoFundMe.com is less structured than Kickstarters. Each campaign varies
wildly in its content as well as how they choose to organize their information. Typically, they
include an explanation of the problem they hope to solve, why this problem is important, and
how they plan to use the money to solve the problem.
Some of these campaigns are very short, accomplishing their persuasive goals in a paragraph
or two. The campaign titled Bottles 4 Babies Flint Water Relief, for instance, uses just 268
words to plea for donations, and as of March 27th, 2016, they are less than $4,000 away from
their original goal of $70,000. This campaign also includes a section where they have been
featured on national news television shows, which establishes their credibility.
In contrast, the campaign Saving Eliza is much longer and is divided into sections with
headings. This campaign has been very successful, exceeding their goal of $2,000,000 to raise
funds for research into finding a cure for Sanfilippo Syndrome. While this campaign has since
expanded to other websites, the original GoFundMe campaign explained what Sanfilippo
Syndrome is and how it affected one child, Eliza. Unlike the Flint water campaign, which relied
on the kairotic value of readers prior knowledge of the Flint, MI water crisis, this campaign went
into more detail in order to explain the effects of the disease and stress the importance of
finding a viable treatment.
Another difference from the Bottles 4 Babies campaign is the end result. With Bottles 4 Babies,
donors have a specific end result in mind: children, the elderly and the disabled will be receiving
water purchased and transported with their donations. The Saving Eliza campaign is
contributing to a foundation that funds research into the treatment and cure of Sanfilippo
Syndrome. The campaign itself does not give much detail about how the donations will be used
to conduct research, but obviously given the amount of money they have raised, donors are
convinced by their pleas for help, possibly because readers are familiar with pleas for donations
to research various cures.

Style
Similar to Kickstarter, GoFundMe campaigns use a heavily persuasive style. Each campaign
focuses on an issue or problem in society that could be fixed with help from the community. To
accomplish this, they have to persuade potential donors that their cause is worthy. The most
common tactic is persuading donors emotionally. They use visceral language to build sympathy
for the people affected by their causes.
This appeal to pathos is most useful when dealing with children. The Bottles 4 Babies campaign
specifically focused on children in school who did not have clean water to drink. As a society,
we often feel a need to protect children, so this appeal is more effective than one focused on the
people of Flint, MI in general. The campaign went a step farther and actually put babies in the
title, even though their description says they are sending water to schoolchildren, who are
typically too old to be considered babies. However, if we as a society feel an evolutionary need
to protect children, we feel this way about babies even more so.
The Saving Eliza campaign is raising funds to save children as well. Sanfilippo Syndrome, they
explain, often kills children before they reach their teens. This campaign takes the focus on

children one step farther by focusing on a single child: Eliza. The campaign, started by her
parents details the torment they went through when their daughter was diagnosed. Similar to the
Kickstarter campaigns, they reach out to readers through the use of the second person, but
rather than appealing to their love of enchiladas, Elizas parents appeal to other parents fear of
losing their own children. They write, What would you do if you knew that money was the only
thing standing between your child and their chance at a full and happy life? What would any
parent do? Any parent reading this, or anyone who can imagine being a parent, would would
not only imagine the hypothetical situation posed here, but would also imagine the continuing
circumstances: what would they do if their child was sick or dying? Obviously, they would do
everything they could, including raising funds to find a cure. As a result, they may be more likely
to donate to these parents campaign for more research.

Visual Composition
The visual composition of the site itself, as well as individual project pages, needs to build the credibility
of the project. Users want to donate, but they need to be convinced that the projects are legitimate; verbal
and visual messaging builds or breaks the audiences trust and support.
Here are the campaign pages for Kickstarter and GoFundMe, respectively:

As you can see from the photo above, it is a best practice on GoFundMe to incorporate faces
into the project page. Incorporating images of the people behind the projects echoes the
purpose of the site, which is to help people through difficult times. These humanistic images
also try to create a closer proximity of the user to the creator. On Kickstarter, however, it is more
common to see images of products or places, emphasizing innovation.

The image above was taken from the Flint Water Crisis campaign. The appeal to pathos here speaks for
itself. The image above below, from Kickstarter, is an infographic related to stretch goals. Infographics are
common practice on Kickstarter, where creators strive to catch readers' attention as they skim down the
campaign description.

Creating a project video is important because the video just might be the only impression a
potential donor has of your project. In fact, 80% of Kickstarter projects launch a video

Gain trust Build you ethos as your explain your goal. Be concise, clear and engaging in your
speech. Dont forget to use your rhetorical appeals to pathos and logos!
Proximity - Either look at the camera to establish a personal connection or off camera to
convey a interview-type setting.
Establish an engaging and appropriate style! Decided on your angle. Elaborate? Funny? Direct
and honest? Formal or informal?
Make your video easily shareable

For more tips, check out these videos about videos:

How to Make An Awesome Video
Kickstarter Offers Tips on How to Make a Great Campaign Pitch Video For Writers &
Publishers
Campaign Pitch Video Ideas

Other Considerations
How do contributors find crowdfunding campaigns?
Websites like Kickstarter and GoFundMe house thousands of campaigns on one website. They
have a search function, and each campaign is organized into a category. In theory, a potential
donor could possibly open up the website and begin browsing for a campaign to contribute to.
Realistically, not very many people actually do this. So how do contributors and donors appear
to successfully fund these campaigns?
As Kickstarter points out on their website, "the majority of initial funding usually comes from the
fans and friends of each project. If they like it, they'll spread the word to their friends, and so on.
Press, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Kickstarter itself are also big sources of traffic and
pledges." This pattern also holds true for non-profit campaigns on GoFundMe and others.
What does this mean for creators and fundraisers? You have to become your own marketing
and public relations team. You have to go out on your other social media accounts and actively
promote your campaign. Tell everyone you know about it and encourage them to share with
others, even if they cannot contribute themselves. Find other communities that would be
interested in your campaign through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and so on.

The more people who see your campaign, the more potential contributors you have.
This ripple effect, where your friends or follows share with theirs and so on, builds the credibility
of your campaign as well. Others see that people they know, follow or trust have contributed to
the campaign or feel that it is worthy enough to share. This makes them more likely to look into
the campaign themselves, and then contribute.

=====

GENRE Alphabetic Text

Introduction
Social Media, as we defined it, are ever-changing and adaptable system(s) of digital platforms which
function as microsystems converging under the larger ecosystem of the internet. Because of the
vastness of the internet and diversity of social media platforms, it can be difficult to know how to best
write for Social Media. Our goal in this category guide is to highlight the genre conventions of platforms

relying primarily on alphabetic text.

To do this, we examine relevant social networking sites and determined that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Tumblr, and Kickstarter (or any crowdfunding site) relies primarily on text. You will find that we considered
the user, audience(s), composition and style.

Basic Usage Considerations

All alphabetic genres start with user profiles. They all provide an opportunity to include a photo, which can
vary from professional headshot for LinkedIn to a more casual image for Facebook. Both Facebook and
LinkedIn also provide a banner image that can be added behind your headshot, which can either add
more information about you and your interests or simply serve as a visually appealing background.
Each platform has distinct parameters for what to include, determined partly by how much room is
available and the particular audience. LinkedIn, for example, as a professional networking site, focuses
on professional accomplishments. Facebook is more oriented to social networking, so includes more
emphasis on relationships.
Users should consider the reality that unless they maintain highly protected social media presences in
one platform and more public in others that they should maintain a consistent user profile across
platforms. For example, if your LinkedIn presence is oriented towards getting a job as a technical writer in
the corporate world, it may not serve you well to have a linked Twitter presence that focuses on your
radical politics. Multi-platform users should consider your online persona as a consistent whole, or
develop multiple-personas that are not linked.

Audience Analysis
Whenever we write, it is always important to ask who we are writing for, because it will determine not only
what we say, but how we say it. What constraints does our audience have? What do they care about?
Generally, as a genre, it is difficult to identify specific audiences for social networking sites based on
textual (or alphabetic based) communication.Thee audiences are demographically diverse, and we feel
that it would set up a false dichotomy (like with the youths and the olds) if we were to pigeonhole them
into categories. What is most important to note is that, although varying demographics come together to
represent this audience, they all operate through these platforms with the intent to communicate through
alphabetical modes. While it is true that these social media sites have visual components, they are
ultimately text centered.Could we then say that social media is not destroying the written language, but is
instead reshaping how we think about writing through social media? This underlying purpose of
communicating through written language is what grounds audiences together; there might be different
end goals on each of these platforms, but how they go about them is remarkably similar.
For example, Facebook is generally used to connect with friends we know in real life, while Twitter is used
to connect with those we dont know or those we admire (musicians, actors etc.). LinkedIn is a middle
ground of purpose between Facebook and Twitter (that is more formal/ professional), in that you have 1st,
2nd and 3rd degrees of connections and is created to help expand your professional network.
Below, we have some audience analysis and demographic data for the SNS identified in our introduction.

TWITTER & FACEBOOK

Twitter and Facebook have wedged their way into becoming touchstones of communication, so much so
that even if you do not use one frequently yourself, you most likely have a profile on both of them.
Considering this natural tenacity for being staple avenues of social communicationprofessional or
otherwiseeach has come to register a wide range of people in age (broader than those of Tumblr and
LinkedIn). Generally speaking, both Twitter and Facebook will see content from those as young as 14 to
those as old as 55. (There are users that exist outside of this, however the number given is for a general
impression.) This age range of 14-55 is typically the time period during which users are most active, with
the highest volume of usage and content production coming from young adults, organizations, and
businesses. Those users who are older in age and are not in a media based environment more
traditionally use the sites (especially facebook) for maintaining personal relationships.
Both Twitter and Facebook are used by audiences to connect, share, comment, inform, persuade, private
message, publicly announce, and or like content.
These two platforms are the ones most typically referred to when people are looking for an update or are
participating in an informal conversation.
Global Community interactions side note: Users can and will find celebrities or well-known figures on
Facebook for example, but because the Twitter platform caters more directly to individual voice and a
more specific persona scope, users turn to following established figures here. Perhaps because it is more
simple to manage than Facebook, established figures run their own twitter pages and therefore interact
with the public (through this medium) more. Established figures could be made synonymous to simple
well known profiles, whether they be large companies, teams, organizations or even events; whichever
the source, such well established profiles influence a good deal of Twitter conversation, traffic, and
appeal.
Audience expectations:
On Twitter, audiences expect writing limitations/ constraints, i.e. the limit of 140 characters per tweet
whereas on Facebook they do not.
More elaborate visual content may be sought out and found on Facebook but Twitter manages a well
enough advanced capacity for various visual rhetoric as well; audiences have come to expect outside
sources that are being referred to, to be included but open up in other windows or through other apps.
Both audiences expect to interact with Facebook via the app or via the desktop site whereas Twitter is
primarily expected to be used via app (mobile device).

Audience demographic statistics:

Facebook:

Every second there are 20,000 people on Facebook. This means in just 18 minutes there are 11 million
users on Facebook
On average there are 486,183 users a minute accessing Facebook from their mobile
79% of all users are accessing Facebook from their mobile.
There are 745 million daily mobile fb users
Facebook is adding 7,246 people every 15 minutes or 8 per second
Every minute there are 150,000 messages sent
Every 15 minutes there are over 49 million posts. To be precise 49,433,000 or 3 million posts per minute
There are 100,000 friend requests every 10 minutes
There are 500,000 Facebook likes every minute
People share 1.3 million pieces of content on Facebook every minute of every day

In November of 2014the number of video uploads to Facebook exceeded YouTube video uploads
according to Social Bakers
Photo uploads are 350 million per day
Users spend 21 minutes per day on average on Facebook
31% of US senior citizens are on Facebook
66% of all millennials (15-34 year olds) use Facebook
People spend 927 million hours a month playing Facebook games
There are 1 billion mobile app links enabled on Facebook

Twitter:

80% of Twitter active users are on mobile

Vine (the looping video app) has 40 million users
500 million tweets are sent per day
Three of the five richest people in the world have a verified Twitter account. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and
Larry Ellison have a combined $206.2 billion, according to Forbes, and are all sending 140-character
messages.
The most retweeted tweet ever came from Ellen DeGeneres in March 2014. The star-studded selfie tweet
at the Oscars produced 3.4 million retweets.
The first user to hit 1 million followers was Ashton Kutcher, beating out CNN in a race that was broadcast
in a live stream from Kutchers home.
7/10 most followed accounts belong to singers.
Twitter wont allow you to follow more than 2,000 people unless you have 2,000 followers.
Twitter only added 4 million users in the last 3 months
There are 391 million Twitter accounts with no followers
Twitters technology can handle 18 quintillion followers
Estimated number of Twitter users un the USA by 2018 66 million
33% of American Teens use Twitter

LINKEDIN
Being better established as a professionals network, LinkedIn is different, especially from Twitter.
LinkedIn caters to a smaller age range but covers more territory. In other words, there arent typically 1418 year olds on this platform but there are more communities represented in the user demographic; this is
likely because, more than teens who have the access and desire to be socially kicking it on Twitter, are
there aspiring and very successful businesses seeking to establish and maintain relationships with
specific audiences. The age range for this platform is more so from 22 through 65. It is reported that 1 out
of every 3 professionals is now on Linkedin and the social platform operates in over 200 countries and
territories.
LinkedIn protects and encourages relationships more specifically than most other sites. For its users
LinkedIn provides security measures, such as making sure you actually know someone (or at least there
email) before being able to reach them/ connect with them through the site. This feature protects users
from being heckled and or taken advantage of by more informal/rash tactics; essentially it caters to, not
surprisinglya more professional form of networking. LinkedIn also encourages supporting each other
through a) endorsing skills, b) congratulating on new positions, and c) reminding you of peoples career
anniversaries. Through these forms of communication users seem to develop more positive, lasting
LinkedIn relationships, leaving less room for negative comments and focus (a contrast found more on
the more informal, social sites).
LinkedIn is also used by audiences to connect, share, comment, inform, persuade, private message,
publicly announce, and or like content. That being said audiences will produce and engage with lengthier,
heavier material here.

Global Community Interactions side note:

From every profession, there are success gurus, authors, experts, and more who attract and maintain a
following on LinkedInso in this sense we also see a following feature influencing content and traffic.
Company profiles also generate and hold this power on LinkedIn.
Audience expectations:

users on LinkedIn expect more thoughtful publications and conversation

users expect most recently opened job positions to be updated to this platform
users expect to see more business promotion and explanation
users expect that they may not personally know some professionals who request their profile
users expect to fill out and update their breathing (live) profile that is their LinkedIn Page.
Users expect mobile site

Audience/ demographic statistics:

Average time a user spends on LinkedIn is 17 minutes per month

25 million LinkedIn profiles are viewed every day
You can increase your linkedIn views by 11 times by including a photo
41% of users visit Linkedin via mobile
The average number of connections on Linkedin is 930
There were 28 billion Linkedin profile views in Q3, 2014
13% of millennials use LinkedIn
LinkedIns percentage of social sharing is only 4%
39 million students and recent grads are on LinkedIn
56% of members are male
44% of members are female
30,000 long form posts are published on Linkedin every week
41% of millionaires use LinkedIn
13% of LinkedIn users dont have a Facebook account
59% of Linkedin users dont visit Twitter
LinkedIn users spend 26% of their time on LinkedIn using the mobile app

TUMBLR
Tumblr is perhaps the most simple user-oriented platform with the idea of creating/microblogging
collective multimodal experiences. Within this genre of social media we see more fan fiction, trend
following, thematic focus groups, and subcommunities. According to the Pew Research Center about only
10% of Internet users are on Tumblr. The average tumblr user is between 18-29 with a degree and living
in an urban area. Tumblr is a total youth market, which probably wont change considering its usability
principles and visual/platform architecture (it is modern, tech savvy, and multimodal). A lot of original
content is produced on tumblr but, generally speaking, it is most often used to interact with reblogged
content. Memes comprise an exceptionally large volume of content on this platform. Its main post
categories primarily consist of/ are concerned with personal/self expression, technology, industry, and
business.
Global Community Interactions side note:
If a user is producing or reflagging interesting content they will, like the other platforms, also gain a
following.

Audience expectations:

Visually grounded/influenced experience

Be able to
Private message other users
Include audio
Reblog/ Quote Material
Favorite posts
Follow users
Hyperlink Material intext
Have mobile use

Audience demographic/ statistics:

The average visit to Tumblr is 14 minutes, longer than Twitter or Facebook

The average Tumblr user views around 67 pages per month
17% of Tumblr visits happen during work
35% of Tumblr visitors earn more than $50,000 annually
7.2% of Flickrs referral traffic came from Tumblr
65% of Tumblr's audience has a college education
66% of visitors are under 35 and 39% are under 25
56% of all visitors have at least some collegiate education
Tumblr has grown 74% in 2013, compared to Twitter and LinkedIn's 40%
The top 10 Tumblr tags are lol, fashion, food, art, vintage, landscape, tattoos, black and white, makeup,
and illustration
Most unique visitors originate in Seoul at 1,694,000+
Comparatively, 898,000+ visitors were in New York and 753,419+ in LA for September, 2013
California accounts for 16.75% of all unique visits within the U.S.
31% of all visitors are in the U.S, totaling 41,250,000
9% of US visits happen through mobile devices
16% of Tumblr visitors are Hispanic, 7% more than the 9% average
36% of visitors are parents, 13% less than average
Only 31 of the Top 100 Brands Use Tumblr
28 of the 31 brands are also on Instagram or Pinterest
Tumblr is the fifth most visited site throughout the U.S.

Language Composition/Writing
Length
The length of any alphabetic social media post will depend upon the medium itself. Some platforms,
Twitter in particular, place constraints on the number of characters or words a post can contain. On other
platforms, users expect shorter text posts,and even prefer them over longer text posts. In either case,

writers should always consider what length would be the most effective on each platform. Writers may
also choose platforms for a particular text post based upon the audiences expectations of length on that
particular platform. Microblogging sites, such as Tumblr, for example, give space for longer posts, as
does Facebook. However, Facebook will force users to actively click to continue reading longer text
posts, possibly deterring them from continuing, which is another factor writers need to consider.

Style
Social media text posts often contain more energy and excitement, both positive and negative, than other
more traditional forms of communication. As a result, punctuation and grammar that would normally be
unacceptable are acceptable (and often expected) in this genre. This includes exclamation points
(sometimes doubled up or paired with a question mark), colloquial phrases, slang, emoticons and other
more informal grammatical choices. Successfully writing for social media needs to be clear, concise and
purposeful. Usually, it is composed in a low style, conversational manner.
However, when using social media sites in a professional capacity, or building an online identity, there are
still some stylistic choices that are considered indecorous - too casual, too emotional, or ignorant. For
example, users generally frown upon using chat speak in text posts. Once common everywhere on the
web, chat speak includes significantly shortened forms of words like rly, u, cuz, btw, et cetera. These
words are now seen as unprofessional for a company building their brand image, for example, or a
professional trying to build a social media following.
If a user writes in chat speak on their personal Facebook status updates, they may be perceived as
juvenile, and may well be one of the youths. Youths, may also exhibit other signs of writers out of
decorum for social media post style. Their posts may be over-emotional, chronically updated (more than
twice day), and generally incendiary.
Note: On platforms like Twitter, chat speak may still be seen as acceptable because users will assume
the shortened words were intended to save characters, and therefore the writer was able to say more in
one tweet.

Community
Whether the social media account belongs to a company building a brand image, a musician attempting
to gain a following, or someone creating a social media presence for themselves, a writers goal on social
media is usually to 1) build a community of followers around that identity and 2) engage with that
community. Text posts, more than single images or even sometimes videos, reach out and bring people
in. Text posts are often soliciting contributions or responses from friends or followers, inviting them to join
the conversation, or delivering information the writer believes is relevant to them. By using more colloquial
phrases and slang terms, as described above, as well as direct address or second person point of view,
writers draw followers into the community with their word choice. Those colloquial terms then become
signs that the identity represents a certain community, inspiring a feeling of inclusion with followers, who
are then more likely to continue to engage and build that particular business or persons identity.

Facebook

Character Limit

Voice

Visuals

63,206

Personal or
Professional.
Friendlycasual

Expected. Lack of
profile picture
causes suspicion.
Who is speaking?

Twitter

140 characters

Personal or
Possible, but only
Professional. through links
Friendlycasual

LinkedIn

2,000 for Summary Section.

Professional/ Necessary business

Employers want to
casual
put a face not only to
your name, but to
your achievements

Check out this infographic

http://www.linkedinsights.com/maximumlinkedin-character-counts-2015-editioninfographic/
Tumblr

5oo characters (ask)

Crowdsourcing None

Personal/
Necessary - visuals
Specific
are what draw the
interest group- reader to click on the
casual
microblog
Persuasive

Necessary.
Campaign videos
work to establish
connection with a
potential donor,
create proximity and
establish an ethos

Further/ Additional Specifications

LinkedIn

No limits on word count

More than three paragraphs best understood as the long-form posts
Can be uploaded presentations, documents and videos along with your content
Since LinkedIn is geared towards business professionals, you need to pay attention to when you publish
Add visuals to the text; include at least one image in your post
Content should be unique to the LinkedIn demographic; just copying and pasting your blog post does not
work.
Use visuals at the top of your blog post.
Headline should be short and concise.
Keep your post short and simple as many people do not have the time to go through longer posts.
Optimize your Linkedin profile to be considered an authentic writer on the subject
Keep your voice authentic
Keep your writing focused. Don't try to cover too many issues in the same post

Facebook and Twitter

Facebook, twitter, linkedIn and other social media have a profile

Limits profile visibility upon sign up
Facebooka poke option to get others attention
Twitterthe Nudge option
Both on Facebook and Twitter, users are able to respond to the status updates of users
Facebook users comments can only be seen by those who are in their network whereas twitter posts can
be seen by anyone.

Visual Composition
While alphabetic genres are by definition primarily alphabetic, they also all allow incorporation of imagery
and, in some cases, video. As noted in the Language Composition section, while writing for alphabetic
genres varies depending on specific platform, in general, shorter pieces and especially parsed pieces
attract greater readership. Visual composition should support the text, and vice versa. In Twitter in
particular, which is significantly limited in the amount of text, image links give you a picture that tells a
thousand characters. Users should also keep in mind that postings in particular may be viewed by users
across a multitude of devices, from desktops to smaller smart phones. Images should be visually
impactful enough to retain relevance no matter what the size.
In Crowdfunding platforms, its debatable whether they are primarily alphabetic or image driven. Video
pitches grab viewers attention, but the alphabetic text ultimately explains the value proposition. Images
and video in this medium need to be particularly polished to capture potential donors or investors, since
real money is involved.
Hubspot has a good overview of image usage across a variety of social media platforms here
- https://blog.hootsuite.com/dos-and-donts-of-social-media-pictures/.

Other Considerations
Alphabetic social media platforms enable written discourse on a variety of topics, and have become a
popular way for users to communicate.
Alphabetic conversations become more impactful as a delivery platform for individual opinions. While
images have an ability to tell a story, alphabetic SMS platforms allow the user to elaborate on topics of
interest, which often allows the defense of a personal viewpoint or opinion. Social networking sites have
become an important additional arena for politics. They are a resource for political news, information,
finding like minded issue-oriented people, and a tool for voter outreach in the run-up to elections. (Pew
Internet Research)
There are six basic types of Twitter conversations. A 2014 report by Pew Research Center that analyzed
conversations on Twitter found that they tended to fall into one of six archetypes:

1. Polarized Crowds, where opposed groups talk about the same topic but mostly just to other group
members
2. Tight Crowds, made up of people bound together by some common interest (such as hobbies or
professional pursuits)
3. Brand Clusters, large groups that form around particular products, events or celebrities;
4. Community Clusters, multiple small to medium-sized groups that typically form around big news events
5. Broadcast Networks, where many people follow and retweet a particular news source or commentator but
dont interact much with each other
6. Support Networks, usually created when companies, agencies and other organizations respond to
customer inquiries and complaints