Writing Online is Easy. Making an Impact With It is Hard.

In a world where everyone has a microphone, how can your ideas reach people and change the world?

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Aaron Sorkin said, “I am all for everyone having a voice; I just don’t think everyone has earned the microphone. And that’s what the Internet has done.”

That reminds of what our moms tell us when we’re young. “If you don’t have something good to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Not many children heed that advice. They say whatever comes to mind, whenever it does. Good parents monitor our words and help us see what is appropriate and when — and what we should avoid.

The internet has given us a place to say whatever we want, whenever we want. And we can put on masks and pretend to be someone we’re not. Distancing ourselves from our mistakes may be as easy as deleting our account. It’s like it never happened!

Of course, the severity of a mistake depends on what you say and how popular you are. It’s possible your mistake can make you famous.

What happens much of the time when we publish is this: our words get lost in the millions of whispers online. No one hears, and no one cares. So why bother?

Is there a remedy for being ignored?

There are rules of effective communication when we’re face to face with someone. In this post, we’ll look at how to communicate more effectively online.

You have to learn the rules of writing online if you want to succeed here.

Access is easy. Just pick a platform and sign up!

Your best friends will care — for a while. If you’re sufficiently entertaining when they see you in their newsfeed, they’ll want more.

Bore them, and you may as well disappear. And you will — in their newsfeed.

Here are a few ways to increase your impact on your chosen platform.

• Invest time posting. Find out what the ideal frequency is, then make that your goal. Have a list of ideas ready to fill those posts. You can wing it if you want, but that won’t always work.