A Note from Missy Wick, Blog Editor
.
For people like me – a digital immigrant, born and raised in the land of paper, white out pencils, and Correcto type – the migration to the Internet has been both daunting and thrilling.
In truth, I do not miss all the old country ways. I spent far too many hours fiddling with the typewriter roller, trying to match the IBM Selectric type ball with the letters on the page to fix a midsentence mistake. Failure meant retyping the entire page. I was a terrible typist; I still am, but now (for better and for worse) there is spell check.
I have also found opportunity in the new world. Last year a call for a writer came through a listserv, via my email – and now I pen Anthropocene Mind, a blog about psychology and climate change, for Psychology Today. The blog pays for the expensive green teas I like, and brings me readers from all over the world.
I even got a shout out in Andrew Revkin’s Tumblr (New York Times Dot Earthblogger). After he posted my post, his readers tweeted sentences from my blog. It was fascinating to see what words they chose – what was meaningful to them.
Yet with those tweets came the realization that a bit of expatriate caution is warranted. Words can spread like a flash fire in this virtual balloon frame. You have no control. All you can do is watch them burn through Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Tumblr, – and so on. Be careful what you offer for kindling.
Like many émigrés, I know that the country I left years ago is gone. Returning is not a choice. And there is still so much to learn; the language of the Internet is not native to me. I know how to touch type, not type with touch. So I plan to go hear about Sarah and Avital’s journeys, and hope to see you there too.
The Digital Writing Life
with Sarah Werthan Buttenwieser and Avital Norman Nathman
Sunday, February 2, 2014
3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Northampton Friends Meeting
43 Center Street, Suite 202, Northampton, MA.
Sarah Werthan Buttenwieser and Avital Norman Nathman will discuss the specific ways different types of social media have helped them open doors, plant some writing-roots, and cultivate publication options. They will also delve into ways to use these online platforms to maximize marketing efforts, and discuss the benefits and challenges of creating an online community.
.
.