Good writing has worth.
What does it mean to be a good writer?
Simple. It means you write things that have worth. Worth. A worth of some sort. But who can properly define what “worth” means. It isn’t objective, its subjective. To someone, a piece of writing can be absolute rubbish, without any worth, but to another, a work of art. There’s no fence to bind this.
I believe it is important to see both sides of a story, so I’ll be arguing both sides and let you decide what you want to decide about this topic. You judge, I’ll just lay out the facts on the matter. But beware of confirmation bias-- agreeing with something wholeheartedly because it already matches your believes, but rejecting or “not liking” something you don’t personally “like” or agree with. Let’s not do that, let’s not take sides for a while, and look logically into this.
So I want to put it out there, that good writing does matter. But what does good writing mean again? Its subjective, and I say, to each person his/her view.
You listed out the various social media platforms out there- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Tiktok etc. I personally am not a fan of social media, but let’s put my opinion aside for now. There’s always many sides to one entity, so I’ll be stating some arguments to say that, no, it hasn’t turned us into mindless zombies--or if you want me to be more precise, not all. Some. I know this personally.
During one literature lesson, we were just being introduced to poetry, and we just reading a few poems provided by the teacher for us. Turns out, one of the poems was found on Instagram. It’s called “Instapoetry”. Now let’s go back, is it worth? Yes. The writer poured out her heart in that short poem, and shared with so many others, impacted so many others. When I found out, I was thinking about Prose, this website, and was like, “Hey! That’s so similar!” Even better, dute to the many functions of Instagram, I learnt that writers were also able to design their posts, which they want to write the poem in. That meant that people could accompany related pictures/ drawings to that drawing to place even more emphasis/allow greater impact on the reader due to visuals.
Social media allows people to connect and provides budding writers, or just writers to have an audience, similarly to this website. Someone to read their works. Maybe you’re thinking, “But that is such a small few! Plus, I’ve never heard of it...” That’s the thing, we can’t condemn an entire thing because some sides of it can be quite deterring and bothering.
YouTube, is filled with music videos, these artists also write music--Lyrics are hold a different meaning each and it’s accompanied by sound, so it fascinates not just one sense, but two senses. Some of our own Prosers to spoken word on YouTube. “Writing” takes a different form there, people perform spoken word poetry, and it is a platform for writers to learn from others, professionals in fact. I myself have spent time on YouTube watching spoken word poets reciting their poems, and have been inspired and awed by their performances.
Additionally, social media provides this one thing, that is so important to all writers. Ideas. Ideas to write about. Or things that can trigger possible ideas to write about. Ideas spark creativity, allows room for creativity.
I know that you probably wasn’t thinking about this, and were more referring to the more common sight of social media--Tiktok dances, stupid dumb videos on YouTube, Narcasistic selfies by influences plastered on every page of social media. Let’s look more into that then. But I want to say, don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. Not everything of social media is toxic or just “useless” and mindless. I thought that too, so I sympathise.
This topic is also something I’ve been thinking especially into though. I have lost so many friends to social media. You actually described them perfectly, “mindless, unsophisticated zombies who no longer care for grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, or creativity”. If I’m going to honest, I wanted to argue that Social Media is in fact brainwashing people into the above, but I decided I shouldn’t.
You probably know enough, don’t you? That’s why you wrote this prompt. You’ve seen it, and probably are seeing it, even more in fact. You know Social Media HAS in fact damaged so many lives. I have, I know I have. Those mindless, unsophisticated zombies. I see them so damn often. I walk down the hallways of school, and man, am I terrified that you’ll become one of them. But are we thinking too highly of ourselves? Who gives us a right to think them “unsophisticated”? Who are we?
So I’ll just say, don’t be like them. You are aware of what could happen to you, but don’t completely cast out the idea of social media, dark and freaky as it is. Don’t let the people you love become like them. That I’ve learnt.
Always treasure good writing, and write things that have worth. And then, share it. Social Media is a tool, its not evil in itself. So why not use it impact others, since an audience has already been given to you? Share it, let your readers empathise with you, let them relate to it, who knows what kind of impact you’ll give them?
You really shouldn’t underestimate the power of words that have worth.
A Blue Book Testimonial
In third grade I saw my teacher tear up in front of a classroom of thirty elementary school students. A plane had just hit the World Trade Center. It was the first time I had seen this kind of emotion in an adult. She was still in shock two days later when blue books appeared on our desks. It was time to write.
We were tasked with writing a thank you letter to the first responders. This is where my writing finese was supposed to kick in. Up until this point, I had been the lead example of good writing in my elementary school classrooms. I was the star pupil, acing every standardized test that was thrown at me with the zeal that only an excellerated school can muster.
With this blue book came an intense fear. My letter had to be perfect. It had to WIN. For, this was a writing contest. In retrospect, probably my first one. The winning letter would be presented to the first responders.
In my panic, I wrote a lousy piece of writing - and I knew it. The need to be recognized paralyzed me in the moment of execution.
This need to be validated: this is what, rather pathetically, now drives writing on social media. Almost twenty years later, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have taken over: the short captions we provide to our viewers, or rather ‘followers’, are our chance at winning favor within our community. This brief brush with recognition, like my blue book fiasco, paralyzes us, but in a worse way: we become addicted to the limelight.
I go through my profile on here and delete a lot of things after I write them. I need my writing to be perfect. And maybe that doesn’t make me a ‘good’ writer, but it’s what I have to show the world - my reflections on who I am. Who I want to be, and what I want to achieve. It’s my truth.
I believe social media belittles this effort.
Yes, I have Instagram. Yes, it’s nerve-wracking to post the (seemingly) ‘perfect’ photo. But with filters, what is ‘perfect’? Can we achieve this?
With that being said, in my prose and poetry, I still strive to be that perfect writer. But unlike social media, my writing is in no way filtered.
It’s REAL.
Social media cheapens reality. Good writing - that accentuates what is worthwhile to understand about our world and our place in it. Social media rides that fine line between what is reality and what is filtered - what needs to be ripped up and recycled.
Back to the blue books. Number 2 pencil to paper, that was the beginning of something REAL. Tangible. Even if I failed to deliver. Even if it should have been recycled.
I strive to be good. But I also strive to be real.
