Something to think about:<\/p>\n
Back in January, a headline on Drudge caught my eye about the so-called \u201cenemies of writing.\u201d It was a piece written by a guy named George Packer from the Atlantic. And it was about how writers are more and more writing to appease the crowd vs telling the truth or saying anything that goes against the beliefs of the group(s) they belong to or want to associate with.<\/p>\n
Considering the market that site panders to, it was one of those “the irony writes itself” pieces.<\/p>\n
But, it was also useful, in a way.<\/p>\n
Here are some notable quotes from the article to illustrate:<\/p>\n
\u201cWriters learn to avoid expressing thoughts or associating with undesirables that might be controversial with the group and hurt their numbers.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201c[The enemy of writing is] the fear of moral judgment, public shaming, social ridicule, and ostracism. It\u2019s the fear of landing on the wrong side of whatever group matters to you. . .because popular outrage has more weight than the party line.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf an editorial assistant points out that a line in a draft article will probably detonate an explosion on social media, what is her supervisor going to do\u2014risk the blowup, or kill the sentence? Probably the latter. . .So the mob has the final edit.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And finally, my favorite quote from the article:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026a writer who carries the thought police around in his head, who always feels compelled to ask: Can I say this? Do I have a right? Is my terminology correct? Will my allies get angry? Will it help my enemies? Could it get me ratioed on Twitter?\u2014 that writer\u2019s words will soon become lifeless.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is one of the many reasons I left social media.<\/p>\n
The dumbed-down nature of the like-and-retweet brigade was getting cringeworthy.<\/p>\n
It was all about signaling and being liked, and nothing else.<\/p>\n
I suspect this is why my old elBenbo\u2019s Lair Facebook group was so addictive to people. It was the only place people could not only say whatever they wanted (within the confines of the clearly-established rules I instituted \u2014 like no giving value, no virtue signaling, etc), but I\u2019d jettison anyone who tried to shut people down if they said something unpopular or offensive to someone\u2019s delicate psyches or unpopular \u2014 including (especially) people I disagreed with.<\/p>\n
The whole point was to foster debate, not silence people.<\/p>\n
I seriously doubt there are many such places like that left.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also why there are so few legitimately interesting email lists to be on either.<\/p>\n
More:<\/p>\n
If all you want do is write stuff that appeases the mob of psychopaths wanting to cancel everyone they disagree with, or if you fear being ostracized by your favorite social media sewing circle, or if being (oh noes!) called names because of something you write keeps you up at night, you aren\u2019t going to be writing anything worth reading.<\/p>\n
I daresay this goes for writing emails and sales copy, too.<\/p>\n
All right enough of this rabble.<\/p>\n
The June 2020 \u201cEmail Players\u201d issue is all about the mechanical writing side of copywriting for sales letters, emails, sales scripts for webinars or videos, and so on. But if you aren\u2019t willing to tell the truth in your writing and not only not appease but even horrify clients (especially if they want you to write \u201cby committee\u201d) & customers with the truth\u2026 you best pass on this one, Maynard.<\/p>\n
And, for that matter, pass on being a marketer or writer of any kind at all.<\/p>\n
My opinion.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s where to subscribe:<\/p>\n