Writing for the Internet

Designing/writing for a web audience is more different than similar to designing/writing for a paper audience.

I really had to think about this statement, because there are a lot of factors to consider and I could probably argue either way. However, I think that designing/ writing for a web audience is more different to writing for a paper audience. Yes, in both instances you are creating content that will be seen by people. However, anybody can write and put up content on the Internet. It is much more difficult to get writing printed and distributed. Your work is put through a much more rigorous editing, proofreading, and accuracy process. It can take months and years to get something published, while I can post anything I like to the web immediately, whenever I want, day or night. Writing for the web is more informal and people tend to scan and skim instead of reading every word. So some knowledge of skimming is necessary for web authors so that their information gets to the people. Print materials require people to put in effort to go out and retrieve them, or even pay for them. People in these instances are going to pay more close attention. I also feel like the purpose of web writing and the purpose of print writing is very different, and more writing is converting to the web today.

Here is a slight tangent: I found this line really interesting, “Much of our Web use is motivated by the desire to save time.” I wonder if we are depriving ourselves critical thinking by trying to save a few minutes. People often think, “I don’t need to think about this question, or go to the library to find information about a topic. I’ll just google it.” I feel like society has lost their sense of wonder. People don’t wonder about anything anymore. Any question they have or answer they require can be found in just a few seconds on the computer like phones we carry in our pockets at all times.