Social Media's Role in Digital Writing

 Social Media's Role in Digital Writing

Oftentimes, social media is thought of in a very negative way, especially for credible sources of information and writing. Some of that is warranted. Social media can be a place where misinformation is spread, and it is usually not the place to see the top writing and posts. However, throughout this semester, we have learned that social media doe serve a very unique role in digital media. It is the place most of us go first thing in the morning and the last thing we do at night. We can spend hours scrolling. Therefore, it makes sense that much of the digital media we consume is on social media. In addition, our students have grown up with social media. It is a constant part of their lives from the time they reach middle school. Because of this, it is important to recognize the role that social media platforms can play in digital writing. Furthermore, it is important to consider all types of social media, not just the most popular ones. Lastly, it is vital to teach out students how to interact on social media safely and efficiently to maximize their place in the digital world. 

In a recent article, Edward king discusses the role of digital comics and the evolution of their place on social media. Digital comics are not a medium that I would usually consider. However, the article made me think more deeply about how social media affects all genres of writing differently. He writes about different ways that comics have made a splash in the social media world and gained popularity, citing "campaign battles between industrial giants Marvel and DC" (King, 2020, p. 136) as one recent example. Because of these posts from two very popular comic book giants on social media, the greater population was exposed to comics. That increases the interest in comics by default. King also talks about one particular comic creator who also posts selfies on social media. He writes that the selfies "routinely elicit hundreds of ‘likes’ from followers and are matched by the countless selfies of friends and followers that the artist ‘retweets’ in his Twitter account" (King, 2020, p.154). In posting these selfies, the comic book creator is creating more interest in himself, but also in his work. That, in turn, increases interest in the entire genre and is good for many authors. 

The above example shows exactly how powerful social media can be as a digital tool. It becomes a space and platform for all genres of writing, even new and exciting ones like digital comics. There are so many social media forums in the present time that can be used for different things. For example, sites like LinkedIn or Wakelet are obviously more geared towards education. Here is an example of a recent post I saw on LinkedIn that is relevant for teachers today. 


Sushma M. (2026, April 1)

As teachers, we teach more than just our subjects within our classrooms. We teach life skills, as well. One of those skills includes teaching students how to communicate and act as a digital citizen. Here is a video with extra social media safety tips for students: 

(SEO North, 2019)

 Social media is such a major part of their lives that they need to know how to brand themselves accordingly. Social media can be a valuable tool in their lives, or it can be very negative. In the textbook, it emphasizes that "we need to inspire writers to develop their own ideas" (Hicks, 2013, p. 120). One way to inspire creative writing is absolutely to use social media as a platform to express themselves positively. Lastly, as the text also states, "Social media, then, must be embraced as a form of reading and writing" (Hicks, 2013, p. 120). Based on research and personal experience, I would have to agree with that statement. 

References

King, E. (2020). Autographic selfies: Digital comics, social media and networked photography. In J.      Scorer (Ed.), Comics Beyond the Page in Latin America (pp. 136–157). UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13xpstc.12

Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: composing texts across media and genres. Heinemann.

SEO North, 2019, Social Media Safety Tips, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlWDFtP0T0&t=1s

Sushma M. (2026, April 1). The Strategy Loop. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7445084783065325568?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAGO-3zIBQwA4e2XllL0ZDisYD8oHDussd9w

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