Who Are You Writing For?

In the virtual world of online business, you have to write for your target audience, but for the whole world as well. Unless a client specifies the audience is located in a certain city, state, province or country, you have to use terms and phrases that are universal to all.

While I am American, I don’t feel I have the attitude that the United States is the be all and end all of everything. I know how many other countries feel about the U.S. in this respect, and we have a reputation for being pushy, thinking our way is the only way, and that everyone else is wrong.

I try to be aware of this, but sometimes I slip. James (a native Canadian) reminds me every now and then that just because a certain phrase is common in the United States, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world uses that phrase. My feathers ruffle indignantly at being pointed at, and then I often realize he’s right.

Take “bikers” and “motorcyclists”, for example. In the United States, the two words are used synonymously. A biker is someone who rides a motorcycle (or bike, as most bikers affectionately call their machines). In other countries, a bike is a bicycle and a motorcycle is either a motorbike or a motorcycle.

It gets worse. I “ride” my bike as opposed to “drive” my bike. Riding a bike is perfectly acceptable lingo to the average American motorcyclist. Elsewhere, motorcycles are “driven”.

If you use the phrase “a motorcyclist drives his motorbike” in the United States, you sound like an elitist snob to the bikers you’re riding with. Anyone in America reading an article with these terms might view the writer as someone formal who doesn’t ride a bike – the terms sound too researched to be familiar to the writer.

Using the American vernacular and words like “biker,” “ride,” and “bike”, the article would sound rough and full of slang to someone in another country.

I am grateful that I am well traveled. I have spent time in both Canada and the U.K., and I understand different cultures. I know others have different ways of saying things than I do. When I see “colour” or “realise,” I don’t view the words as misspelled. I take into account that the author probably hailed from somewhere other than the U.S. Most of the time, I remember to write for an international audience when I’m composing, but nobody’s perfect, and I do slip.

The best thing a writer writing for an international audience can do is to stay away from slang and keep the article as clean as possible. Be aware of people who will be viewing the content, too. If the site is specific to an Australian or Brazilian audience, make sure the language is the type you want. Communication is key.

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