Different Phrases for Different Places
From yesterday morning’s Marketplace on National Public Radio:
[Host] Jeremy Hobson:
I don’t have OnStar in my car, but I do have a cell phone in my pocket, and I assume that there are companies that would be more than happy or maybe are already using that data to sell to marketers.
David Lazarus [from Los Angeles Times]:
“Maybe are already?” Oh, how naive you are. Look at the whole frackus with Apple recently, where tracking software was found in the iPad, the iPhone. It was fairly benign—it was helping with mapping services, but people just had kittens about that. It is extremely common. First of all, your wireless device is essentially broadcasting your whereabouts 24 hours a day. But a lot of new apps out there are really just bringing it down to the microscopic level so that they can bring services, offers, coupons, all sorts of things to you right where you are. And then when you go online, your whereabouts are constantly being tracked. Advertisers love that and you have essentially no privacy when you’re wandering around on the web.
I heard this conversation while driving to work yesterday, and there are so many parts of it that I could write about today—and may in the future. But I’m going to choose the phrase, “just had kittens.” That phrase actually sounded great on radio, but I would probably not use it in print. Lazarus has a fun voice that rises and falls like the stock market. When he repeated, “maybe are already,” it got my attention fast; so by the time people had kittens, it went perfectly with his tone.
In most cases, good writing should vary for each medium you’re involved with. It’s lazy—and probably ineffectual—to bring the exact words of a well-written print piece to your Twitter or blog. Think of your audience. This is one reason why many experts preach that you should find the social medium that fits you best and stay there. It takes a lot of time to start reconfiguring information for every medium.
Yesterday, I highlighted Chris Anderson’s commentary for The Washington Post about email overload. In the paper it was headlined, “Do you really need to send that email?” Online it read, “How to stop email overload? Think before you hit send.” Why the difference? The obvious answer is space; online you can add that second deck no problem. But perhaps the editors felt that online the key message has to be emotional, so “email overload” worked; and in print it was more about the concept of sending email.
“It’s just a different mentality,” said Curt Brown of Progressive Business Publications in a session he led back at SIPA2011 in June. A print headline might say, “Worker was fired for his bad attitude: Why’s OSHA involved?” The online equivalent might be, “Fired for being a jerk or whistleblower? OSHA weighs in.” There are many headlines PBP has used online but would not use in print, he added, such as, “‘I got so trashed!” “7 worst things to say at work” or “Kids surfing the Net – while still potty training.” It makes sense, given the speed with which we peruse the Internet. If something doesn’t grab us right away, we’re off.
In that NPR Marketplace story, I also like how Lazarus finishes. When the host thanks him, he responds, “I’m watching you, Jeremy.” Now how much more effective is that than simply saying, “You’re welcome, Jeremy”? Every little bit counts in the communications world.
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