Journal 3

Over time, people have created a million and one different types of technology for writing. And these technologies have crucially affected the way writers can circulate what they aim to share with the world. For example, fifty years ago a journalist would publish an article in a newspaper that might only reach its local audience. Today, that newspaper publishes an article on its website and it has the potential to reach millions of readers; whoever is on the Internet has the ability to find and read the article. It might reach readers the author didn’t intend for it to.

Because of the depth of the possibility of circulation the Internet provides, writers must be weary of the potential consequences of having such a wide audience. Someone using the technology of Twitter (without putting the account on private) might not be aware his or her writing can circulate to a potential employer, for example, and write something that would deem him or her not eligible for employment. Penney and Dadas write about how large an effect Twitter had on the Occupy Wall Street movement—people from all over the country flew to New York to be a part of this movement that they may never had heard about if it weren’t for Twitter or other elements of social media. It’s interesting to note that as time goes on, social media sites like Facebook are doing much more to make users aware of their audience, or of their privacy settings. People have lost their jobs over posting their opinions on Facebook because they weren’t aware of whom it would circulate to…and this is a consequence of people not understanding every facet of a new technology.

I think that as technology continues to advance, people must aim to make themselves more aware of the consequences of using it. People can use modern digital technology to write and find people to empathize or connect with, but it can also create harsh divides among people who see opinions of others they might not have sought out to begin with. The Internet is forever and nothing can ever really leave cyberspace. So while it’s great that opinions can be shared on such a vast level, the consequences of this must be kept in mind.