In many ways, the fundamentals of written communication haven’t changed that much since people first put chisel to tablet. Tell the story as straightforwardly as possible and be concise. What has changed completely are the platforms and media through which we all communicate.
The digital revolution has transformed many sectors, from banking and insurance to transport and manufacturing. It’s also come for journalism, marketing and public relations, and because of my age (don’t ask) I’ve been well placed to witness the biggest transformation in how we use and disseminate the written word since the printing press was invented.
The good old days?
When I got my first “proper job”, working life certainly didn’t revolve around websites and social media. And there was nothing artificial about intelligence. First of all, things took more time! We didn’t even have computers, so I had to handwrite everything and get it typed up by the typing pool.
In fact, the office really had to make a case for getting computers so we could begin word processing our copy. It was a relief to get that relatively basic technology, which freed us to do our jobs more efficiently. Getting that urgent statement to the media became quicker and less stressful.
However, we did have to walk down to the fax room and spend half an hour punching in numbers to send it out. Fax machines – remember them? I asked colleagues at RED who are in their 20s, 30s and 40s if they had ever used one. The answer was a resounding “no” from all – a couple of them had not even seen one.
www. is here!
Of course, the real change was around the corner with the coming of the internet. Who remembers how slow it was? Dial up modems didn’t always connect first time, and when they did everything was a little clunky. But we could already see that this was the future.
Alongside the worldwide web (few people use that term now), we heard about this new thing called electronic mail. It’s hard to believe looking back that we had serious discussions about its usefulness. Will it catch on? Should we bother getting it? We all know the answer now.
From print to digital
With the growth of the internet and as the related technology matured, it soon became clear that we had to get used to new forms of media. In the late nineties and early 2000s, most of my work still revolved around writing for printed materials, such as brochures, leaflets, flyers and newsletters. I recall this changing over a few short years as clients started asking for copy for their new websites and online – or “e” – newsletters.
Did these digital products change the way we wrote? The answer is yes to a certain extent. The thought leaders in communications told everyone to use short sentences, smaller paragraphs and mix it up a bit with bullet points, so everything was easier to read on a computer screen.
“Metadata” and social media
There’s no doubt this became good practice, but there was and is still space for long-form copy that is written in the more traditional manner. (I currently write more 800-1,000 word blogs than anything else.) Nevertheless, as the years have rolled on, this old dog has had to learn new tricks. For example, alongside writing copy for the web, I’ve had to fill in forms of metadata to help search engines find the articles I write.
And now of course we have social media to think about. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and that platform that used to be called Twitter are all used by our clients as communication tools. “Don’t forget the socials” is the call as they commission another piece of work! Pet hate: writing tweets (sad emoji).
The dawn of AI
So what’s next? Some say copywriters like me can start putting our feet up or thinking about retirement, because artificial intelligence (AI) is coming for our jobs. Here at RED, we’re already receiving client copy for editing that has been generated by AI.
It’s quite easy to spot. AI text is wordy, repetitive and lacks detail – as well as creativity. Who knows what the future holds, perhaps this technology will get better?
But for now, don’t put your writers out to pasture…