The Good, The Bad, and the Rick Astley

People in third-world countries may soon have easier access to the Facebook and YouTube than things such as medical care, running water, or electricity. The world around us is chaotic, but the growing number of glowing screens remains a dependable constant. This is due both to marvels in technology that make the web more accessible, as well as vastly changing demographics now proficient in utilizing this technology. Thus, the future of electronic writing involves writers and audiences that will change greatly in size, loyalty, and geographic reach.

The Internet is unique to almost all other media in that its use is active rather than passive, and requires a certain degree of proficiency with both computers and their software. Other forms of media did not suffer this disadvantage during their introduction. When television and radio were introduced as new mediums for news and entertainment, all the audience had to do was turn on the new-fangled piece of machinery and find a comfortable place to sit. However, when the Internet made its debut, adults were confronted with a near infinite amount of useful information, but didn’t know even the most basic of tasks needed to access it. Adults were simply like someone trying to read a book, but not understanding how to turn the pages. While some adults put in the necessary effort to actually learn how to manage their way around cyber space, an entirely different group of consumers would attack the problem with their quick learning and copious amounts of free time. The youth of the world immediately embrace the computer and the Internet as a valuable way to find both important information and entertainment. As a result, research has shown that younger groups increasingly get more and more of their news from the Internet.

This shows that online writing is already important among younger age groups. However, this importance will increase dramatically as the result of something completely unavoidable, time. The population proficient in their use of the Internet will continue to age alongside the older generations. However, the number of people not proficient in the use of the Internet will dwindle. The reason for this is perhaps best stated by Vince Vaughn in the movie Old School when he says, “That’s what old people do. They die.” The generations that were largely unable to access their news and entertainment through the web rather than simpler forms of media will soon be extinct. The result will be a population almost entirely ready to access online resources, and logically, an increase demand for the work of electronic writers.

All of this is really just a reflection of what is to come in areas where the technology necessary to access the Internet is readily available. However, the areas in which the Internet can be accessed are also changing quickly. Consider that the Internet was invented in the United States. Now the United States has fallen to the rank of 12 in terms of broadband penetration. Also, China has just surpassed the United States for total number of Internet users. The Internet is no longer just a way of communicating with those within the United States, but is increasingly becoming a way of communicating with the outside world. If this trend continues, the value of online writers will change in that their audience will become more and more likely to be located outside the United States. Or, equally likely, is the idea that we may soon be reading the writing of people in other countries. Rather than seek an American writer’s experience in a country like Iraq, we could view a page featuring the translated words and pictures of Iraqi citizens. By contrast, television, radio, and print are inhibited in this regard due to the fact that their message can only really be heard as far as their signals or circulation reach.

This trend will accelerate exponentially as new innovations in technology will serve as a catalyst to the Internet reaching the furthest corners of the globe. Consider the One Laptop Per Child project. The goal was to invent a machine capable of all of the basic functions of a computer that would have a price tag of $100(Ended up being $200. Still impressive though.) In addition, the project was non-profit and aimed at attracting charitable support to finance the production of the laptops, which would then be delivered to children in third world countries. In addition, features such as a foot pump to power the machine and internet via a connection relayed from another laptop would ensure that the computers could be delivered to even to the places most unbefitting of the word civilization. This one project even goes a small way in proving my earlier point about the role of younger generations in learning how to use the Internet in that it is targeted toward children. The developers seem to recognize that it is simply to late to reach out to the older generations with this new technology. As a result, the machine is built, in nearly every respect, for a child. From the colorful casing, to the small childlike keyboard, the designers purposely designed a product that would be unappealing for the possibility of theft for the black market.

So far this project has been an overwhelming success with the delivery of over one million units to children in numerous countries, the most units going to Uruguay, Peru, and Mexico. Meanwhile, the feedback from teachers and students in these countries has been overwhelmingly positive. Students who felt fortunate to have a few scraps of old textbooks now have at their disposal, a wealth of information greater than anything they could have previously fathomed. The plan continues to storm forward using creative marking techniques to encourage philanthropy. These include the face that these machines are not available for general retail unless you participate in the “Give one. Get one.” program. This means that consumers must purchase a laptop for a child in a developing country in addition to the machine that they wish to purchase for themselves. Of course, individual citizens are also allowed to purchase a laptop for a child in another country without buying one for personal use, and even pick the country that the laptops will be delivered if they choose to donate in bulk. This project will continue to surge forward with the release of an even newer and more sophisticated piece of frugal machinery in the works.

There is, however, an unfortunate negative side effect of this newfound popularity and accessibility of the Internet. With the other mentioned forms of media, television, radio, and traditional print, there are significant barriers to prevent just anyone from polluting the system with inaccuracies, poor quality work, or other things that would be considered meaningless crap. That’s not to say that there isn’t lots of meaningless crap in all three of those mediums, as daytime television, hours of infomercials, and Cosmopolitan magazine valiantly demonstrate. However, barriers to entry in these mediums such as appropriate college degrees, funding, and ratings, tend to significantly reduce its quantities. The future of online writing will not enjoy the luxury of such barriers. Already search result will result in a number of garbage web pages containing a meaningless jumble of keywords to increase the likelihood of being found by search engines. These useless pages, created for profit via traffic, will increase in quantity as people with newfound access to the Internet aim to make quick cash. Luckily, search engines are becoming more sophisticated in their coding and are less likely to rate the sites highly in results, but the problem is not likely to vanish altogether. Electronic writing also suffers from another problem that is at least somewhat corrected in other media, inaccurate information. This problem will increase more and more and new users will put incorrect information online, whether accidentally out of ignorance, or purposely for any number of reasons. Collaborative public wikis, often the first and last source of information for lazy internet researchers, are rampant with inaccuracies and sabotage. In fact, a search for Paul Bunyan, the 1979-80 NBA Season, or the Oh Henry! candy bar and a visit to their Wikipedia page may feature a mysterious entries about yours truly (not that I know how that got there or anything.) This just goes to show the amount of credibility that can be expected from almost any writing on the Internet.

Of course, even if you ignore all the trash that will inevitably make its way onto the web, it will still continue to be more and more difficult for online writers to stand out among what would seem to be countless other experts in any area. Individuals on television or the radio have the benefit of already having a boost in ethos in that the audience takes them seriously because they are important enough to be on television or the radio. The people of the Internet know that anyone can write anything, so instantly, writing is ignored altogether or scrutinized more heavily, since the opinion of a dozen other so-called experts is only a few clicks away. Adding more people to the equation in the future will naturally intensify these issues.

For better or for worse, the world of electronic writing is in for shocks. The world in which electronic writer’s do their work will expand. But, at what cost? The Internet and the work of countless electronic writers is spreading to the farthest corners of the globe, but will anything new and of real substance remain once the internet reaches these corners? Aside from the countless hours that third-world teens will inevitably dwindle facebooking their friends or watching new YouTube celebrities, will they really harvest the informational gold nuggets that are buried by a sea of pungent electronic trash?

Essentially, the amount of useful information available will increase beneath this pile of trash that grows just as quickly. In the future, where the non-tech savvy have become virtually extinct, mankind will have in its hands both the most useful tool to even grace its existence, and the foulest insult to its intelligence. Electronic writing in the future will thus remain as a tool, not inherently good or bad, but instead either, depending on its use. The future of electronic writing will be filled with hazards in the form of empty spam information, inaccuracies, sabotage, or countless other landmines that must be sidestepped in order to prevent detriments to research. But how do we identify these hazards? How do we know if the information that we are being given is accurate, or is the work of vandals? Well if the unsourced Wikipedia article you are reading about Medelian genetics begins with, “White Sox Rule,” you may be on to something.