All the World's a Writing Space: Observations on Writing in the 21st Century

In the 1940’s you were writing . . .

In the 1950’s you were handwriting and . . .

In the 1960s, you were addressing . . .

In the 1970s, you were revising . . .

In the 1980s, you were keyboarding . . .

In the 1990s, you were emailing . . .

In the 2000’s, you were facebooking around the world . . .


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Six Observations: Print; Screen; Net


1. The net makes visible a collection of information connected to a making of knowledge that has existed for some time.

Question: What other studies have been created in this collective method?

2. The net makes possible new ways to collect information, organized by laypeople.
Question: Is this a writing capacity that we should teach in school?

3. The net invites a new kind of citizen journalist (Ben Franklin multiplied) keyed to critical information in crisis moments especially.

Question: What’s the role of the journalist in a 21st century world, especially in a democratic republic?

4. The net has been expertly employed by the Democrats, beginning with Howard Dean and later by Barak Obama, particularly to provide opportunities for people to participate.
Question: Now that Obama is the president—that is, the leader of a hierarchy—(how) can he make two very different structures—hierarchy and the web—work together?

5. Through the net, people—here and around the world—share as never before: words, pictures, video, audio.
Question: How will this sharing change the nature of writing, especially in three ways: writing as remix; writing as protected by copyright; writing as the expression of an individual “author”?

6. Via the net, people co-author in teams across the globe, using the screen as a principal drafting space; as a communication site; and as a means of delivery.
Question: How will these new writing practices change our composing overall, especially the practice of chunking text for the screen and for multiple deliveries?


-->And overall, how/will these practices change what and how we know?

Greetings from Florida State University 1942 and 2009

These two postcards demonstrate writing at mid-century and writing today. In the 1942 card, the image was fashioned by a professional; the composer's task was to write on the back side and post it--and in 1942 it cost a penny to mail a postcard. It's interesting, too, that other than the name of the school changing, the setting is remarkably the same in spite of the 60+ intervening years.

The 2009 postcard was created using a template on the web: http://www.fsu.com/ecard32/ Here a composer has many opportunities, as the website explains:

Send the message that you're proud of FSU! Use our free ePostcards to deliver congratulations, birthday or holiday greetings, or just a friendly "Hello from an FSU fan."
It's fast, it's easy, and best of all, it's free! Click now and start sending your FSU ePostcards today!Choose your category, click on your photo, and follow the instructions to create your own FSU ePostcard. Or use our ready-made special occasion cards.
Become an FSU ePostcard member and get special members-only features, including an address book, birthday calendar and reminders, stamps, backgrounds and music for your e-postcards, and password protection. For these features and much more, log in (above).

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So in this case, the writer can do what the 1942 writer can do, of course: purchase a postcard, write on the back of it, and mail it--although it will cost you more than a penny to post it! But in 2009, the writer can create the entire postcard--including images, font style and size; colors, arrangement of images, and sound. The writer, in other words, has become a designer, and creates with many materials.

Greetings from Florida State College for Women

Early in this century, and later (for that matter), postcards accomplished one or more of several ends. Sometimes, they did send the message "Wish you were here!" Sometimes they were used to advertise a school, a location, or an event. And sometimes, they were used to inform others. Here, this postcard from Florida State College for Women seems to do all of the above.