What’s wrong with “you”?
So I recently started writing for a freelance website (won’t say which one) — this website does not like its writers to use the pronoun “you” — they prefer third person pronouns or nouns. I can understand the logic to a certain extent, but I don’t like it, and I’m explain why in the following paragraphs.
“You” gets personal — When I write an article or blog post, who am I talking to? I’m talking to you — not “the customer” or whatever. I prefer to get personal with my readers, but I guess I’ll have to do that on my own blogs or on sites like Medium.
“You” surprises readers — Because so many people don’t like the second person, “you” feels fresh to readers, and for writers, it’s different way of presenting ideas and information.
“You” stretches your skills and surprises readers — Because not many people use it, the second person point of view feels fresh to readers. And personally, when I’m writing my own articles, especially if I’m writing something “instructional” I prefer to use the second person point of view.
So how about you? Do you usually write in the first, second or third person? As you probably figured out from the preceding paragraphs, I prefer the second person, and will use it when it’s appropriate. I’ll continue to use first or third person when working for clients that prefer that point of view to be used. But when I want to get personal, I’ll continue to use second person.
