Microblogging is a short blog post designed for quick and typically direct audience interactions. These concise blogs are shared using social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram, and can include different content formats such as audio, text, images or video.
Microblogging enables users to weigh in on trending topics or reach friends or family, and organizations to reach their prospective audiences. Shared content includes user-generated content, event highlights, news updates, memes and quotes.
The appeal of microblogging is both its immediacy and portability. Posts are brief -- typically 140 to 280 characters -- and can be written or received using a variety of devices, including smartphones.
Microblogging is a fast way to communicate with audiences. As opposed to writing pages of text like in a traditional blog, a microblog enables quick conversational posts with others. For brands, it can be a way to make product announcements or clarifications, link to longer content posts, seem more personable or engage in conversations with customers.
In the U.S., for example, former President Barack Obama microblogged during his campaigns using Twitter, one of the most popular microblogging sites. Traditional media organizations, including The New York Times and the Advanced Press, send headlines and links in microblog posts. Other potential applications of microblogging include live traffic reports, sports updates and emergency broadcast messages.
Benefits of microblogging include the following:
The main difference between traditional blogs and microblogs are their length. Blogs are more long form and can be anywhere from one paragraph to many pages. Microblogs, however, are smaller and more concise.
It takes less time to create a microblog while quickly facilitating communication with an audience. Blogs take more time to create and focus on a typical one-way communication. While traditional blogs can be hosted on many different websites, microblogs are typically hosted on social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.
Because traditional blogs are longer, they typically contain more in-depth and information-rich content. Blogging sites can also provide instructional resources or provide commentary on a topic. With the limited number of characters, microblogs create quick interactions with an audience and focus on a specific topic or message. They are also conducive to mobile platforms, where short posts can be created and shared quickly while on the go.
Microblogging platforms typically include popular social media sites like the following:
The first step in creating an effective microblog is to choose the platform it will be posted on. The platform selected should fit the type of content to be posted. For example, if an image is the central part of the microblog, then the post would work best on Twitter or Instagram, even though a microblogging site like Facebook would also work. Likewise, short videos work best on TikTok or as a Reel on Instagram. Text posts work well on platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and strictly business -- typically business-to-business -- posts perform best on LinkedIn.
Each platform can host a variety of content types; however, content typically found on each include the following:
The target demographic of each platform may help determine which is best to post on. For example, according to SproutSocial:
Demographics and statistics can also be broken down by gender and time spent on the platform.
Microblogs can include any type of content, however, businesses making microblogs should ensure they're posting relevant content that informs their followers but stays within their brand's image. Microblogs could include content like status updates, links to longer-form content, videos, infographics, memes and quotes.
The following are some extra tips for making an effective microblog:
This can help make posts more relatable and entertaining.
Using an automation tool like SproutSocial will help an organization schedule posts or create the same post for multiple websites at once.
Learn about 12 social media marketing tips that can help boost an organization's microblogging posts in this article.
03 Aug 2022