ChatGPT for Beginners (Part 5)

Can ChatGPT write essays or articles? Can ChatGPT write social media posts?

Author

Sabrina Ramonov
October 01, 2024

This is part 5 of my free course, ChatGPT for Beginners.

Table of Contents

Can ChatGPT write essays or articles?

Yes, ChatGPT can write essays and articles!

It’s a fantastic tool to help you get started and get un-stuck.

Whether you're staring at a blank page or need a different angle, ChatGPT helps with:

  • research

  • brainstorming

  • writing an outline

  • writing a solid first draft

  • proofreading and editing

  • critical constructive feedback

Here’s an example, asking ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas for an essay exploring Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment as it relates to social media today:

Next, follow up by asking ChatGPT to refine a few ideas you like.

Once you’re set on an idea, let ChatGPT draft an outline.

This is especially helpful if you’re unsure how to structure your essay or article. ChatGPT instantly generates an outline you can start refining, tweaking. It can even suggest titles, main points for each section, etc.

I find ChatGPT shines when you’re struggling with the initial flow of ideas and how to structure them in a coherent way.

For example, try this prompt to create an SEO-optimized article for your blog:

Create a comprehensive SEO-optimized article outline and content plan:

Generate an extensive list of LSI and NLP keywords related to idea #1. Include synonyms, related terms, and industry-specific jargon. 

Develop a detailed outline for a 2,000-word article: 
• Create main headings and subheadings, ensuring high keyword density
• Assign word counts to each section, totaling 2,000 words
• Include an introduction, conclusion, and FAQ section
• Ensure the outline is comprehensive enough to guide a full article

For each main section, provide: 
• Key points to cover 
• Relevant statistics or data to include 
• Potential examples or case studies

Create an FAQ section with 5-7 common questions about [TOPIC], based on search trends and user intent.

Suggest 3 relevant external links to include in the article: 
• Provide URLs and recommended anchor text 
• Ensure links are from authoritative sources and not direct competitors

Recommend internal linking opportunities within the article.

Provide SEO optimization tips: 
• Suggested meta title and description 
• Image alt text ideas 
• Keyword placement recommendations

Outline a content distribution strategy: 
• Social media platforms to share on 
• Potential outreach targets for backlinks

Suggest 3-5 potential titles for the article, optimized for both SEO and reader engagement.

Here’s a snapshot of the outline ChatGPT made for our Crime and Punishment essay:

Make sure to add your unique perspective and thoughts to the outline and key points.

Then, using the outline, ChatGPT writes the first draft:

I want to emphasize:

Your unique voice and perspective are essential.

It’s a partnership — you guide ChatGPT, while it helps you organize your thoughts.

I used to spend hours agonizing over how to phrase 1 sentence in a school essay. Yet, the process of writing helped me think more clearly, refine my ideas, and cultivate my voice. I don’t recommend trying to “skip” this experience, however grueling it may seem.

Use ChatGPT to help you at each step, but don’t let it replace your critical thinking.

Hallucinations

Now, let’s talk limitations.

ChatGPT generates text based on patterns it’s learned from massive amounts of data. This means it doesn’t necessarily know what’s “correct” vs “incorrect”.

Its output may not be accurate and may include completely false made-up information, known as hallucinations.

💡 You should always review, edit, and fact-check outputs from ChatGPT.

Plagiarism

Another thing to consider is originality.

Nowadays, many schools use AI-powered detectors to flag AI-generated content as plagiarism​. Even though AI detectors remain faulty and imperfect, copy/pasting directly from ChatGPT is usually a no-no.

Instead of letting ChatGPT write everything, treat it like your personalized 24/7 assistant that supplements your writing, creativity, and critical thinking.

For academic writing, in particular, I recommend the following tools because they cite sources when generating outputs, thus reducing the likelihood of hallucination:

However, none are perfect.

Always double-check!

In short, ChatGPT can definitely write essays and articles.

But it’s your voice and unique experiences that add depth and originality.

Can ChatGPT write social media posts?

Yes! Just like with writing essays and articles, ChatGPT can help write social media posts in a variety of ways:

  • write viral LinkedIn posts

  • write engaging captions and hashtags for Instagram

  • remix long-form blogs into bite-size social media posts

The better your prompt and the more context you provide, the better the post.

In fact, using AI for social media content creation is my main motivation behind Blotato.

Here’s a simple example — ChatGPT writes a Linkedin post about personal branding.

Then, I ask ChatGPT to write a tweet on the same topic.

Since Linkedin and Twitter are very different platforms, each with their own quirks and constraints, the posts appear drastically different.

And, that’s a good thing!

I always recommend creating platform-specific prompts, so that your posts fit the vibe and audience of the target platform.

What makes ChatGPT particularly useful is its flexibility and versatility.

Your Linkedin writing prompt can be more formal, while your Instagram caption prompt can be more casual.

Giving ChatGPT 2-4 examples of viral posts you like on each platform helps a lot, too.

Remixing existing content

Besides writing new posts, I also use ChatGPT to remix existing content.

You can ask it to summarize an article or a YouTube video transcript. Add your unique spin and perspective. And, hit publish!

Or, you can take your existing long-form blog or newsletter and chop it up into bite-sized pieces for social media posts. In this example, I give ChatGPT one of my newsletters and ask it to repurpose the content into 10 different social media posts:

However, not to sound like a broken record…

ChatGPT can obviously do A LOT.

But the magic happens when you refine the content and add your unique insights! 

For sure, AI-generated posts are an amazing starting point to accelerate content creation and start building organic presence.

But, I personally still edit and review each and every post. Especially because I’m building a personal brand from scratch — not posting generic business updates.

So, I highly recommend taking the time to add your unique thoughts, insights, and voice to make every single post more personal and relatable​.

Check out these content creation prompts to get started.

Simply copy/paste each prompt into ChatGPT and let the fun begin 👍️ 

Has my free AI education helped you?

It would mean the world to me…

If you are willing to share your story and inspire others too! 😍🙏 😊