Journal Response

Writing is, today, a wholly different experience than it was before digital technology emerged. This revolutionary change is most noticeable in social media, where nearly all young people interact (if you will) using what may be the most covert feedback: a click (“Like,” “Retweet,” etc) or the lack thereof. Did we need our parents to demonstrate for us what is appropriate and suitable to be sharing on social media? No. More likely, most twenty-something year olds probably had to give their parents a virtual tour around the worlds of Facebook and Twitter, rather than vice versa. Without having needed any lessons or tutorials, most people on social media are capable of distinguishing between what should or shouldn’t be on their public profile. This conditioning results from a system that allows one to notify someone else, via a single mouse click or button tap, that they liked, appreciated, or approved of what was said. Although this process of feedback and validation does, generally, give writers more self-awareness of the scope of their writing, it makes some wary of sharing their ideas. In a time where we can archive every piece of information, it makes sense that some writers would prefer not to publish their thoughts, ideas, or work online, where it can be viewed, transmitted, and saved until who knows when. Looking at this issue through the perspective of social  media, it may seem like a positive, as if it prevent keep ignorant, bigoted, or misguided information from being published, which it may, but at what cost? The same argument can be made for written text, to a lesser extent, but with text written using digital technology, the potential for information to spread is much greater.