A Superficial Shift

While I recognize that the progression of digital media in the past decade is an incredible feat, I can not help but be discouraged by its effects on human habits. In my life, very few things have the ability to make me happier than an eloquently phrased idea or an effectively executed analogy. Since I was a child, I've had a fascination with words--the way they can stir us, still us, mold us, and change us. But those effects require the careful deliberation and undivided attention of the reader, and I believe that the internet has in many ways discouraged us from this kind of profound thought. This is just as relevant for me as for anyone else. When I visit a website, I don't want to take the time to dive into a lengthy article. I scan a webpage for the information I need, and then move on as quickly as possible. Brian Caroll's Writing for Digital Media confirms that this is true for most internet users, and so producers of content are forced to write with this truth in mind. Although it may occasionally be found there, the internet simply does not encourage quality writing.

According to Caroll, the job of a digital media writer is to respond to these trends by occupying three roles--the communicator of a message, the organizer of information, and the interpreter. They are urged to appeal to web users who are "monsters of impatience," and by doing so "switch from 'think paper' to 'think Web' mode." Writers and producers of digital media are under pressure to create work that is scannable and skimmable, with multimedia rich elements and linking to help the user explore a topic more in depth beyond the article itself. Often, visual style is more more important than the information itself. If content is easy to find, easy to read, and aesthetically appealing, it will attract the attention of more people.

Maybe I am cynical, but I find it very hard to believe that this conducive to great work. It seems to me that writers are being asked to dumb down their work for an intellectually lazy population. Curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge have been superseded by convenience and quick facts. Writing has become vastly more superficial to meet the expectations and demands of internet users.

Is the internet reducing the amount of quality work produced, or simply creating a whole new genre of communication? Should digital media writers and creators continue to mold their work to meet the trends of internet readers, or rather should they stay true to good authorship and force the public to elevate their standards?