Social Media Grammar – Check Yourself

Social Media and Grammar

You may think grammar, spelling and punctuation aren’t as important when it comes to your social media posts. Think again my friends. Your writing can have an impact on your image – both your personal as well as your brand image. Now, don’t get me wrong, we’ve all had the occasional typo. It happens. We’re all human! There’s a difference between a simple typo and a complete disregard for the rules.

Grammar, spelling and punctuation are elements at the core of writing, storytelling and conveying a message. You want your message to be clear, concise and understood. You want your writing to represent you, your image, your brand. You want your writing to be authentic, no business-speak, but that doesn’t mean you toss grammar rules aside. You need proper grammar to help convey a clear message.

“The better the grammar, the clearer the message, the more likelihood of understanding the message’s intent and meaning.” William Bradshaw, Author

Why do errors happen? It’s not always because someone doesn’t know the basic rules. It often happens when trying to post on the fly, if you will. When it comes to personal posts, that’s usually what we do, just post our first, random thoughts. But when it comes to your business, your brand and your reputation, you have to think differently. This means it’s important that you don’t rush through a post, that you’re strategic in your messaging. Just being thoughtful and intentional can help you prevent many simple errors.

Start with the basics of grammar. Pay attention to those basics that are often misused, like your vs. you’re or its vs. it’s, affect vs. effect, to vs. too, etc. Even if you have a background in English, it’s easy to get in a hurry or, quite simply, goof up. So what do you do?

Tips for Editing Your Social Media Posts

• Type up your posts in a Microsoft Word doc as it has become much more robust and can point out misspelled words, punctuation and basic grammatical errors.
• Have someone edit your work. This could be a co-worker, friend or paid editor if you have the budget.
• Use a tool like Grammarly if you don’t have someone to edit (or even if you do).
• Do a quick grammar search on the internet when in doubt. Best to take few minutes to be correct than post something with an error.
• Read your work one last time before scheduling or posting.

Remember, the social media grammar police are always looking to catch errors and point them out! Aside from that, using proper grammar helps improve your sense of authority and your brand image. For more tips on writing for social media, check out my articles, 6 Grammar Rules to Break and 10 Tips for Social Media Writing.