Dr. K's LJ

The Rules

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The Content

The article "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web" attempts to describe and give advice for writing for sites that change every day:

Every revision requires new writing, new words that become the essence of the site. Living sites are only as good as today’s update. If the words are dull, nobody will read them, and nobody will come back. If the words are wrong, people will be misled, disappointed, infuriated. If the words aren’t there, people will shake their heads and lament your untimely demise. Writing for the Living Web is a tremendous challenge.

Bernstein's article touches on issues of how and why people write for the Web that we've been discussing all semester. One of the issues that I'd like to bring to the foreground is the idea of writing on the Web to connect with others. This sense of "community" on the Web is seen on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and LiveJournal, or in the "blogosphere" formed by thousands of blogs overlapping and conversing with each other. The Web facilitates community building and creates cultures with particular norms and values; all of this is done through writing.

You may be a participant in the living Web, writing your life online and participating in various communities; you may just be a spectator of the living Web, wondering why people would want thousands of strangers to be able to read their diary or their thoughts on politics.

Today, let's use the Web to talk about the Web. I've already said a lot; now it's your turn to write about online community and the living Web. Ask a question. Answer a question. Make a statement. Tell a story. Agree or disagree with someone. Make links. Make references. Be creative.

Click on "Leave a comment" to get started.

Hello English 351!