Social media websites to share writing have existed, but never in so bright and fun a way as Figment.com currently offers. In the past websites, like sister sites FictionPress.com and FanFiction.net, have provided a place for anyone to share what they have written in a very efficient manner, but websites that provided a place to share and a cozy and fun atmosphere have been lacking. Figment.com, however, is changing that, one young writer at a time.
Figment.com looks like how one might imagine a teen-based coffee lounge would appear. Many writers on the site are tweens, teens, and young adults, and reading works by your peers and sharing your own work with your peers seems to have made a boom in the writing world.
Encouraging writing in any form - be it nonfictional essays for school or fantastical fiction on the side - improves language skills at any age, and Figment definitely knows how to make it fun. Add to that their daily offerings of inspiration and idea springboards and a multitude of writing contests, and there's little that Figment can't do to encourage people of all ages to write every day.
There's a Samma Lynne on Figment.com! I'll slowly be sharing writing from all stages of my writing career under that username, if you would like to explore my little worlds, or share with me any of your own stories!
I am attempting to use Figment as a way to get teens interested in writing who would rather not spend copious amounts of time in the library. Figment offers great group options to their members, and if you apply for an educator's account (it's a simple matter of e-mails), you can create private groups which are fantastic for small library groups. I'll keep posting if I find this starts to work out; my YAB group lost its steam, but I'm trying to push forward with a fanfiction group.
banana
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