Introduction to Digital Writing - STI

AS2404 INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL WRITING Many organizations worldwide use social media to spread false information. Social media has quietly become a major part of our lives. Over a decade ago, media shifted from being mostly controlled by a few sources to a decentralized mo...

AS2404 INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL WRITING Many organizations worldwide use social media to spread false information. Social media has quietly become a major part of our lives. Over a decade ago, media shifted from being mostly controlled by a few sources to a decentralized model where social media is now the main way information is shared. The issues with social media and technology are more than the issues about marketing, advertising, and money. They are related to how we communicate, our ethical beliefs, the government we stand for, the misinformation, and human psychology. Social media problems impact our daily lives, the children’s lives, and the world we are creating for them. We are not fully equipped to handle the complexities of digital communication. Therefore, we need to gain knowledge by learning the proper approach to understand and point out our purpose, ethics, and effectiveness in writing as we collectively recognize that social media is not a tool nor a toy; it is the new powerful form of media that we must deal with. Digital Writing (Lawrence, 2023) Digital Writing means writing content that appears on the internet and social media. It involves writing for websites, apps, and online platforms. It combines skills from different fields like graphic design, computer science, psychology, philosophy, and rhetoric or the means of effective or persuasive writing or speaking. Proficient digital writers demonstrate a deep comprehension of the functionality and intricacies inherent in the tools and technologies they employ. They know how to target specific audiences on platforms like Facebook and can create content like memes that could potentially go viral. Ethical digital writers also understand the underlying technologies to avoid misusing them. There are certain considerations to being a good writer. First, you need to gain your technological skills, writing abilities, and an analytical approach based on the principles of rhetoric to guide your decisions. If you are unsure of how to approach a digital project, you can rely on the foundations of rhetoric. Rhetoric does not only deal with effective communication; it also deals with the truth. According to Plato, speakers must pursue truth through philosophy. Powerful speakers who deceive audiences or do not fully consider their arguments can lead us down dark paths, sometimes with horrific consequences on a large scale. Digital writers must carefully consider their audience: Who will actually read the content? What do they want to know? Who within the algorithm will see this data? How will it be interpreted? How does it relate to the overall goals and stance of the company? How will different audiences perceive the message? The main focus is on using comprehensive language, shorter sentences, and examples to illustrate concepts and break down complex ideas into smaller pieces. The goal is to enhance understandability for a wider audience. Rhetoric Framework for Digital Writing Let us put these ideas into a simple framework that can guide you as a writer in handling projects such as this: 1. Scenario - Analyze the situation and identify the audience. What is the most effective way to deliver the message to them? 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 5  AS2404 2. Purpose - What is the goal of your project or campaign? Are you persuading them to buy a product? Increase social media engagement? 3. Media Object - Consider the content that needs to be created. What should it look like, and where will it be published? Who is the intended audience? 4. Technology - What technology is required for creating the "collateral" or media? Is it a document, image, or post? What software and file types are needed? 5. Deadline - How much time do you have to create the media object? When is the deadline? 6. Process - Will you review and revise your own work? Who else will provide feedback, and at what stage? 7. Ethics - Are there any ethical concerns with the project? How can you address them within your organization? 8. Benchmarks and Review - How will success be measured by others or yourself? 9. Value and Data - What value does this media object or data have for your business or organization? How can you utilize the data in the future? 10. Optimization/Reflection - How can you learn from this project? How can you create an even more successful project next time based on your findings and audience response? Rhetorical, Audience, and Technology The study of rhetoric traces back to ancient Greece. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were major figures associated with rhetoric, though other thinkers likely explored it too. We have Plato and Aristotle's surviving texts, which established the foundations of rhetoric. Rhetoric Rhetoric is the study of the art of persuasion. According to Aristotle, rhetoric involves observing the available means of persuasion in any given situation. On the web and social media, the means of persuasion can include language, visuals, evidence, emotions, speech, appeals to authority, endorsements, and many other persuasive techniques. The means of persuasion are vast. These persuasive tools and technologies were developed by private individuals, companies, and organizations. Rhetoric also provides a framework to critically analyze digital media and how it manifests and appears to us. Media often wants us to buy products, but it can also persuade us to sign up for newsletters, desire new lifestyles, plan trips, or purchase experiences. For example, an airline billboard with an attractive couple on a beach doesn't just sell tickets. It suggests we should value vacations, spending money, and relaxation over environmental concerns like emissions from air travel. Audience Communications often contain ideological messages beyond the surface-level message like “Drink Coca-Cola.” Advertisements and marketing carry moral messages, instructing what we should value. A primary concept in the study of rhetoric is audience. Audience refers to the intended recipient of a message or communication. When creating something, you should always consider the audience. Who will receive the message? What is their age, socioeconomic status, education level, and familiarity with your product? What 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 5  AS2404 occupations and politics do they have? Understanding the real people behind the scenes is crucial. The term audience becomes extremely important when examining social media. In social media, the audience takes on a concrete meaning. We can analyze available data about the audience - where they live, their jobs, interests, and information they have voluntarily provided on platforms. In marketing terms, this audience data is called demographics. The word derives from the Greek "demos," meaning people, and "graph," meaning writing - so demographics describe populations. The concepts of rhetoric and audience are powerful. Demographic data drives many business decisions. If research shows high demand for a product like bean and chicken frozen burritos, a company may launch a new offering to meet that demand. Businesses must listen to their audience. On social media, companies use tools like Facebook Ads Manager to target specific population segments with tailored messages. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos One possible explanation for effective advertising is that humans are irrational and rely heavily on emotions when making decisions. We are largely irrational creatures, driven by desires, the unconscious mind, and millions of years of evolutionary conditioning - even if we do not believe we are irrational. We make many decisions based on our emotions rather than pure logic. Rhetorical analysis of advertisements and marketing helps unveil and see through the persuasive tricks and tactics used. To start learning how to conduct rhetorical analysis, we can use the framework first proposed by Aristotle - the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos. These can be applied to analyze traditional and digital advertisements, marketing messages, media objects, speeches, texts, product designs, and even our own thoughts through self-reflection and meditation. Rhetorical analysis is a powerful tool. The three appeals are:  Ethos - Appeal based on the credibility and character of the speaker/author  Pathos - Appeal to the emotions of the audience  Logos - Appeal to logic and reason By analyzing how these appeals are used, we can better understand the persuasive strategies employed and make more rational decisions as consumers. Ethos Ethos refers to a person’s character and credibility. Aristotle considered ethos to be the most crucial element of rhetoric. When everything else fails, we rely on our trust in a person to evaluate their message. This is important to remember. Due to our long-term exposure to certain brands, we come to know and trust them, leading us to purchase their products over others. Appeals to ethos are appeals to credibility. These credibility appeals also apply to influential figures in our lives; for instance, numerous students aspire to study at UP Diliman because there is a prevailing belief that attending UP signifies intelligence. In the context of social media and all our writing, it is essential to consider how we establish ethos as brands and individuals. Ethos is closely tied to our values and belief system. The ethos we build in our lives is communicated not only through our writing and speaking style but also through our credentials, appearance, 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 5  AS2404 gender, and communication medium. Ethos is closely attached to trust and respect. Why do we respect certain figures more than others? Why do we respect our teachers inside the classroom? For instance, how do we build ethos in social media? One of the things that we consider is the number of followers; it indicates a person's credibility, thinking, “Oh, they have millions of followers. They must have something important to say”. However, we should also take note that big brands usually pay a large amount of money on advertising to build their social media presence. And this is one of the reasons why social media became a “pay-to-play” game. Therefore, we should be cautious about whom we trust. Aristotle wrote that the appeal to credibility may be the most persuasive and that a person’s “character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion he possesses.” Pathos Appeals to emotion are called pathos. Humans experience a wide range of emotions. Advertisers know that universal themes like food, animals, and sexuality evoke emotions in almost everyone due to our basic needs and drives. Let us continue with the example of Subaru's mid-2010s ads showing violent car crashes where the driver survives. What arguments does this make to the audience? Critics argue such footage can cause post- traumatic stress disorder. Imagine removing all pathos appeals from this ad - what would it look like? Thought experiment: Write a Subaru video ad with no emotional appeals, only facts. We would have to remove the music that stirs emotion to remove pathos. Actors’ facial expressions like smiles would need to go. But even an actor resembling someone familiar could evoke emotion, so we'd remove all actors. Scenes like houses might remind viewers of their childhood streets, so we will remove all videos. We are left with just text on a screen: "The new Subaru Forester is the safest vehicle on the market. It starts at $34,900 with 0% down. Learn more at Subaru.com." But even here, pathos remains - how do we verify it is the "safest"? What if there is a later defect or recall? We would have to qualify every statement to make it purely factual heavily. The conclusion is that all language can make a pathetic appeal, an appeal to pathos or emotion. Even stating safety ratings involves value judgments about what constitutes "safety." Logos Logos refers to appeals to logic. Most humans consider themselves rational beings, but studies show this is often not the case. People frequently commit logical fallacies and make ill-informed decisions with wide-scale negative impacts, like panic-selling in the stock market driven by emotion rather than a company's actual worth. Logical arguments rarely appear as pure logic. Appeals to logos typically work on multiple levels. Let us say you want to find a pub in Savannah by googling "pubs in Savannah" and picking the highest-rated one. This seems logical - if locals love it, it must be great. But we must consider potential data skews - maybe the top pub offered free beer for 5-star reviews or is owned by a wealthy corporation able to spend millions shaping 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 5  AS2404 public opinion through ads. Maybe the old beloved local owners sold to a corporate chain that changed the business. We must carefully examine where data comes from and how it was collected; otherwise, we risk false conclusions from bad data. Properly collected data through scientific methodologies should be neutral, but data can be wielded like a weapon to prove a point. Data exists in contexts that need analysis. There are philosophical debates around subjectivity vs objectivity and the social construction of science. But the world's greatest thinkers recognize science's importance for social progress and democracy, not using science to inform public policy risks horrific unforeseen consequences, like the US's failure to control COVID- 19's first wave in the Summer of 2020. However, logic alone does not always persuade. In an ideal world identifying absolute truth, logos could be rhetoric's ultimate tool for sharing truth and making decisions. But the real world doesn't work that way – we are far from a scientific utopia where persuasion is unnecessary. You have likely had frustrating experiences trying to convince someone with evidence, only for them to remain unmoved, especially on deeply held political or religious beliefs. You could present all available peer-reviewed evidence, but people resist changing values-based views. So when is logos effective? It is not ineffective - many ads seem to rely primarily on logical appeals. Like real estate listings providing specs and photos - while dimensions matter, buyers imagine living there through sights, smells, and memories. Our "logical" decisions have underlying emotional logics we do not recognize, like a smell subconsciously evoking an unpleasant memory. 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 5  AS2404 MEDIA CONTENT In today's digital age, media content is pivotal in shaping narratives, informing audiences, and influencing perceptions across various platforms. Writing for media encompasses a diverse range of formats, from articles and blogs to scripts, social media posts, and multimedia presentations. Effective media writing requires a unique blend of storytelling skills, subject matter expertise, and an understanding of the target audience's preferences and consumption habits. It demands a keen ability to capture attention, convey information concisely, and engage readers or viewers through compelling narratives. Content Writing (Balode, 2023) Content Writing is the process of creating fresh and engaging content for various media formats, including online and print publications. While many people assume it is solely about writing articles for websites and blogs, content writing encompasses much more than that. It involves creating engaging content for different types of media and formats, such as:  Case Studies  Articles and blog posts  Social Media posts  Product descriptions  Product reviews  Video Scripts  Brochures  Landing Pages  Promotional Materials Content Writing Practices To write compelling content that captivates readers, content writers must adhere to industry best practices. The primary goal should be to create pertinent, valuable, and engaging material for the audience. Writers should develop high-quality pieces that resonate with their target audience by optimizing relevance, engagement, and discoverability. Here are the following practices that a writer should do: 1. Develop Persona – It is the detailed profile of your customer based on your market research. It will guide you in tailoring content to directly address your customer’s needs, interests, and worries. Developing these personas enhances your grasp of your audience’s requirements, issues, and preferences, enabling you to adjust your content accordingly for relevance. 2. Use a Consistent Voice – Consistently using the same tone, language, and writing style across all your content pieces will greatly impact establishing your brand identity. Developing a consistent voice that mirrors your business’s core values is key. 3. Include Stats and Links Properly – Including statistics and credible sources in your content builds trust with your customers or audience. It enables them to verify the information, a fundamental aspect of the quality of the content writing. 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 6  AS2404 4. Mind your Formatting - Use proper formatting to ensure your audience can easily understand your content. Write in short paragraphs, use headings to organize, and consider using lists and bullets for clarity. Break the text into smaller sections to make it scannable, helping readers quickly find what they need. 5. Use Visuals - As a content writer, your task is to create engaging content. Nowadays, visuals are crucial for capturing your audience's interest. Incorporating relevant images, videos, illustrations, infographics, charts, and graphs into your articles is highly recommended. These visual elements break up dense text and effectively attract the reader's attention. 6. Do not Sound Salesy - Create content to attract and convert leads into customers. However, avoid making your content too promotional, which may discourage readers who prefer informative, helpful, and educational content. 7. Create a Content Checklist - A content checklist is like a secret weapon for writers and brands. It is crucial to list everything each post should have, such as keywords, links, word count, and other essentials. Content Writing Guide You may be new to content writing or have practiced it for quite a while. Here is a guide that can help you take your skills to a higher level. 1. Write a Catchy Headline – Effective headlines aim to attract and captivate the audience. It is crucial to catch the readers’ attention and prevent them from scrolling past your content. Writing catchy phrases requires practice and creativity rather than relying on complex language or revealing too much information. For example, “Unlock Your Full Potential: 10 Proven Strategies for Success”. 2. Create an Outline - A good outline is crucial for dividing a post or article into manageable sections. It guides content creators, ensuring that their work follows a logical structure and includes all key points. 3. Focus on Single Purpose - Craft one clear message to effectively convey your brand's mission. This ensures your core purpose isn't lost in information overload. Focus on one powerful goal to make it easier for your audience to grasp and connect with your story. 4. Add Unique Voice - Content tilt is a potent method for infusing your content with a distinctive voice. It helps you distinguish yourself and captivate audiences by incorporating a unique viewpoint, opinion, perspective, or approach that diverges from the norm online. 5. Make your Content Easy to Read - Ensure all content is clear to your intended audience. Use short sentences, precise language, and maintain a suitable tone. Review the text several times before publishing or utilize tools like Hemingway Editor or Grammarly for readability checks and improvements. 6. Optimize your Content for Search Engines - When crafting content for online platforms like websites or blogs, optimizing it for search engine ranking is vital. This means strategically using keywords, properly utilizing headings and tags (like H1, H2, H3), incorporating alt tags for images and videos, and linking to credible sources. These practices improve your content's visibility and ranking on search engine result pages. 7. Add More Value Than Your Competition - As a content writer, you should study your competitors and offer valuable information in a friendly manner. For instance, humor and unique perspectives can make your content engaging. Also, consider using visuals like bullets, charts, images, videos, and infographics to convey your message clearly. 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 6  AS2404 8. Understand Your Reader’s Intent - Consider why people seek out your content and what they aim to achieve. Identify their issues, desires, and objectives. Determine what action you want your audience to take after engaging with your content. Understanding their intentions allows you to create more tailored content that fulfills their needs. 9. Write as You Talk - To connect with internet users effectively, consider writing in a conversational tone. This approach aids in conveying your message clearly and promptly to potential customers. However, ensure it aligns with your client's brand voice by discussing it with your team beforehand. 10. Proofread and Edit Your Work - To write high-quality content, proofreading, editing, and revising are essential. Editors enhance your writing by improving flow, clarity, structure, and readability. A skilled content writer reduces the editor's workload, ensuring their work is polished before submission. Therefore, consistent proofreading and revising are crucial for success in content writing. Text (Geffrey, 2023) Writing plays a vital role across many fields, and interactive digital media is no exception. Within this domain, various writing styles are required, often employed in combination, for creating both documents and interactive applications themselves. These styles encompass:  Persuasive Writing  Instructional Writing  Efficient Writing  Writing to show personality and build connections  Search engine-friendly writing When employing these different writing styles, the key considerations are your target audience, the specific content or subject matter you will write about, and your writing’s underlying purpose or goal. Conducting research to understand your audience, define the writing topic, and clarify the intent will guide which writing style or combination of styles is most appropriate to utilize. Persuasive Writing Persuasive writing aims to convince the viewer or audience to take specific action. The primary goal of persuasive writing is to influence the reader’s thoughts, beliefs, or actions by presenting a well-reasoned argument supported by evidence and logic. It can be found in the following contexts: 1. Proposals – Persuasive writing helps in increasing the chances of getting a project by convincing the client to choose you. 2. Audits – An audit assesses a company’s interactive application (website) and provides recommendations. The writer should make objective observations, explain the impact (positive and negative), back up critiques with rationale, and maintain an encouraging and persuasive tone, as they may be considered for the redesign project. 3. Ads – Effective ads must be concise, attention-grabbing, and persuasive enough to encourage clicks. For example, Google ads have a prescribed structure of three lines: Title, URL, and two additional text lines, requiring extreme efficiency and persuasion due to character limitations. 4. Social Media posts – These posts often aim to persuade viewers to act; however, the writer must engage them first. It typically starts with a question about their interests, providing enticing information without revealing everything and including a link. Effective persuasion methods may vary 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 6  AS2404 across platforms (for example, X vs. Facebook), but generally, positive posts with visuals and a call-to- action tend to perform better. 5. Game Scripts – Persuasive writing is crucial in game scripts to encourage players to engage more deeply within the game. Instructional Writing Instructional writing teaches someone how to do something, and it is found in almost all interactive media, such as games, apps, and kiosks. These often have help screens or simple instructions explaining how to use them. For example, at an airport kiosk, instructional writing guides first-time users on how to interact. Some challenges in writing instructions for interactive media include the following:  Using universally understood language, as word interpretations can differ regionally. For instance, "bundles" means groceries in New England but may be misunderstood elsewhere.  Limited screen space on smartphones, restricting the amount of text.  Users have limited attention spans and low frustration tolerance. If instructions are needed, users are likely already frustrated that the application is not intuitive. Instructional writing should be clear and concise. Sometimes, using universally recognized icons can provide direction more efficiently than written instructions. When users access help screens, they're trying to find answers to specific questions. However, they may not find the desired information immediately. Therefore, the help sections should be:  Searchable, allowing users to find relevant content easily.  Highly indexed with cross-links, enabling users to navigate to related topics if the initial information isn't satisfactory. Writing for Efficient Communication Efficient communication is crucial as readers have short attention spans. This is especially important for website content and social media marketing posts. As a writer, always aim to make it as easy as possible for visitors to understand your message. For website copy:  Use headings and subheadings to break up long text  This allows visitors to scan the document and quickly grasp what each section covers  Anchor links (links to different parts of the page) also help break up lengthy content for better efficiency Compare the two social media posts and analyze which of the two is more effective. In writing for efficient communication, conciseness is the key, as people rapidly scan their feeds. The second post is more efficient, telling readers exactly what to do in fewer words. By optimizing communication for scannability and conciseness, you can effectively deliver your message to readers with limited attention spans. 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 6  AS2404 Writing to Show Personality and Build Connections Writing with a distinct personality helps readers better understand and connect with the brand you represent. Without a unique voice or style, there is nothing for visitors to identify with. The key is using a writing style that fits the brand and target audience while remaining consistent across all platforms. Consider these two social media posts with different tones: The first post uses capitalized words and exclamations, indicating an excited, upbeat tone for a teen audience (from Seventeen Magazine), while the second has a fun but more relaxed tone, suitable for a more mature audience (from Martha Stewart). Blogging benefits from showcasing personality. If readers connect with the blog's voice, they will likely connect with the brand, too. For example, Young House Love's fun DIY tone attracted many followers, allowing monetization through ads and product sales. The key takeaway is to develop a writing personality aligned with your brand and audience to foster stronger connections and engagement. Search Engine-Friendly Writing Search engines like Google try to show the most relevant websites when people search for something. They look at the words on a website to figure out what it is about. If you want your website to appear in search results, you need to use the same words people are searching for. These important words are called "keywords." First, make a list of keywords related to your website. Think about what words your customers might type into Google to find you. For example, a bakery might use keywords like "cakes," "pastries," and the city name. Next, use a tool to see how many people are searching for each keyword. Once you have identified your target keywords, structure your website around them. Name your web pages after the keywords you want to rank for, as this tells search engines that the page is relevant to those terms. Also, integrate those keywords into the content on your pages, especially in important areas like the title, headings, image alt tags, and links, as search engines consider these areas more relevant. Another great strategy is to add a blog to your website, as blogs tend to have a lot of text-based content, which search engines love. Many bloggers write their posts around specific keywords they want to rank for. By 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 6  AS2404 optimizing your website's content for relevant keywords, you can increase the chances of being perceived as the most relevant result for those searches. 01 Handout 2 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 6 of 6