Social media is all-pervasive today. It connects minds and thoughts together; provides platforms for all kinds of views to be expressed. It has definitely made the world, a very small place to be. Thus, there can be no doubt why it should not be considered as a great innovative and inspiration tool for writing. After all, great writing comes from great thinking and great expression. That is what social media enables, in a very easy way.
Use social media to encourage your creativity
The great variety of social media tools and platforms enables creativity to be expressed in different forms. Whether your intention is to write a poem, a play, a story, or a serious article- this amazing technology provides you with so many ways of getting it done. Let us go through some great ways to use social media to trigger those brain waves, those bright sparks, which can be elaborated into something real big.
Use social conversations as stimuli
One great way of deriving inspiration from social media platforms, such as Twitter, is through conversations. Conversations with different kinds of people, from diverse backgrounds and experiences, can provide an endless and rich stream of thought. There are social media suites which allow the analysis of conversations through the use of filters, hashtags, keywords and one can focus on the kind of talks which are important to one. An example of this is Hootsuite. Hootsuite provides a way of monitoring multiple social media on the same platform. Its multi-column facility and filtering options helps you keep a tab on the themes of interest. Surely, you can use this to fuel your next creative brainstorm.
Find ideas through sharing
Social networks can also provide great stimuli for your developing writing self. You can interact with other writers and share ideas which will develop your writing skill, ability and imagination. Social media allows the sharing of ideas, writing strategies, new styles, approaches that can be used as an avenue for exploration.
Use visual imagery to provoke a thought
Another great way of stimulating your inner writer to produce something thought provoking is through visuals and imagery. Sometime, the thought exists as an image in our mind and all that is needed is to write it down and an image certainly helps in this. Sites such as Pinterest and Instagram provide plenty of great opportunities for ideas. Pinterest is a site where people share images of their interests and create collections. They can form collages, explore collections based on interests, and see images to boost their creative process.
Follow trendsetting leaders
Following tweets by great writers, authors and other personages can also provide ideas which can stimulate your writing frenzy. The existence of social media, has ensured that chances for blocked writer syndrome would be possible lesser than ever before as for sure, there is bombardment from every side. There are plenty of sites which are focused on specific topics. Following the thought leaders on social media can provide ideas to generate your own content.
Curate content for inspiration
Innovative social sites which curate content as for example Scoop it, can provide rich sources of information, which is automatically delivered to your inbox or desktop screen. You can specify the topics or issues, on which you want content delivered, and the website will do the work. You can make your own collections as well as share content with others, content that you find interesting. This is a great resource of research and ideas for the writing you need to do.
Use lists for scouting for ideas
Another easy to use social media site is List.ly. This site curates lists for bloggers, brands, tweeters. You can access to other lists of interesting things as well and share your own. It is an easy and effective way of getting reach to ideas. Listorius is another feature which allows you to search twitter lists for people, things, ideas, etc.
Use Facebook for an increased conversation
While Twitter provides a great way to monitor conversations (of small length) in real time, Facebook provides a great way to follow discussions in depth. It provides writers a valuable way to use these conversations and discussions to learn, analyze, and obtain facts and new approaches to viewing issues.
Use social bookmarking sites to find trending topics
Another great way to get creative ideas is to use social bookmarking sites to find trending topics. One way to do this is by monitoring social bookmarking networks such as Digg. Searching through such networks would provide the top hits in recent weeks, which out to provide you with stimuli for creating interesting writing which would reflect contemporary happenings.
Networking through social media
There are networking sites for writers, journalists and other creatives to share their opinions and thoughts. These are great throbbing place full of ideas. Such sites include Gather, Writers’ Network, book in a week, etc. and provide a congenial social gathering site. Social connectivity through book reading and reviewing websites such as goodreads can also go a long way in getting in touch with new ideas and thoughts with respect to writing.
Indeed, the socially connected digital world is exploding with opportunities for creative ideation- all you need to do is to explore this web!
About the author
Jacey Johnson has been an educator for both the K-12 and higher education sectors and currently associated with http://aussieessays.com/essay-helpers/ as a student advisor. She specializes in online teaching, blogging, and social media topics.
Contact Jacey: jacey_johnson@yahoo.com
