Aside from email, instant messaging, and social networking such as Facebook, I have created and contributed to numerous blogs and websites. I would often try to get my posts featured in certain communities, and a few times have.
Writing electronically has its differences from traditional pen and paper in a few ways, depending on the situation. What always holds true is that my spelling is incredulously better on electronic mediums – certain browsers include a spell-checker, and dictionaries are fast and available. The other difference is that online, I have a larger intended target audience, which encourages me to sell my posts with interesting headlines or eye-catching design. Whether the goal is to increase traffic, get carried through social news sites, or have more followers, my writing changes to meet these ends.
It is easy to get lost in the crowd of the countless posts and content updates on the internet, so having something different and appealing is more than a necessity for those who have any ambition in mind. Creating an identity is a long term process that needs to be committed to and managed in an autoschediastical fashion as the web dynamically changes.
Compelling post, Mike. You've already touched on issues of identity that will underlie the course. Digital contexts change the game; constructing and maintaining an identity in an online space becomes something tangible and visible, something we do actively and perceptibly.
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