The internet came into my world unannounced and uninvited. It was like a piano being dropped into my living room. It demanded that I cut off old friends and welcome in its friends.
My generation had been brainwashed by literature and life. Long flowing detailed setting were part of the stories we read. Thoroughness, excellence, verbose explanations were encouraged. Writers still thought the line, "It was the best of times it was the worst of times." was pure poetic beauty. Today they would ask you to make up your mind and text it to me.
We remembered the story about the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise won the race because of his slow perseverence. Then we read the revised version of the story on the internet. We found out the hare actually had finished the race, run two other races and was home enjoying the prize money. At this point some of us elders decided that speed might at least be equal with perseverence. The part about money convinced me.Writers like to be published and money paid to you is the seal of worthiness.
The attention span of the world had changed, and the internet was just a vivid illustration of that point. No one had time or desire for anything time consuming. So I said goodbye to old friends and welcomed new. The semicolon was shunned, and the m and n dashes became my new friends. Many adverbs and adjectives were left in isolation to ask each other, "How,When, Where, or Which, What kind of, and How many. I learned that the humble newspaper pyramid was to be my friend. My writing style altered according to the market.
Books that were written without complete sentences, and in an unorthodox way I stopped judging and started taste testing.
Publishers also became my friends. Publisher answered in three days when stories were sent by email and it took weeks by snail mail. This resulted in less rejection slips. Publishers with time crunches used the internet for material to fill their needs.
Facebook gave me friends with similar interests. Interesting friends.
The internet itself is still not my personal friend. But I am winning it over. I am taking a class to learn about it so I don't offend it when I don't understand its language or actions. And I don't laugh at it when it is s-l-o-w. But I do love the irony of it.
Interesting observations, but are we better off? Social websites become time parasites sucking away hours of time to keep current with all my "friends." I miss excellence. And I miss beauty. This generation is being "brainwashed" with shallowness, sloppiness, and mediocrity. If Michelangelo lived today we would never have had the Sistine Chapel. What other expressions of God's glory are we missing? I'd trade the convenience and instant gratification for excellence and beauty any day.
ReplyDeleteYour outlook brought laughter and a smile to my face today!
ReplyDeleteHere, here, Michael. I sometimes miss the slower pace of life when my phone rang at home rather than in my pocket. And, I like opening snail mail. I like knowing that someone took the time to think enough of me to sit down at a table and write down their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteSure that can be done on Facebook and Twitter, etc., but the pen is still my favored form of execution. So, I will choose to use both the pen and the keyboard, but I'll continue to surprise family and friends by communication with a stamp.