From Print to Blogging

“Many valued texts were barely preserved from extinction; untold numbers failed to survive.”-Page 16.

Thanks to print texts have been able to be preserved and evolved to digital media. Without print I will probably not be able to write this blog. Whether someone reads it or not, this blog will be out there in the world until I choose to take it out. Still, now we have the option of preserving any kind of text with a simply click on the upload button online.

The way I see it the invention of print opened the doors to today’s emerging media. Print not only gave men the opportunity to preserve and distribute its writings, but also the chance to see that writing could evolve from pen and ink to a keyboard and screen.

Emerging media is giving everyone a wider range of opportunity to everyone to expose and preserve its writings. In addition it seems like it has also increase the need to preserve as much detail of our lives as we choose as we post it online through Facebook, Twitter, etc.

True we have journals but unless some publishing company decides are worth printing it’s not going to be shown to the world or preserve for long. On the other hand, whether someone wants to read or not what you want to say, once online is there for the world to see. And the chances are that eventually someone is going to read it. Even if you delete it and try to pretend to be someone else, probably any know-it-all about the web will be able to retrieve it and/or trace it back to you.

At the same time I feel like emerging media makes it harder for texts that can become valuable pieces of literature/information to be noticed due to all that is posted on the web by the second. Yet it can also be seen as an easier form for people to succeed in their professional careers. It becomes a chance game where the worst text in the world may get the attention and recognition, and the greatest piece of literature ever written will never be read by no one except its author.

In my view blogs, social media, and websites in general are just an evolution of print. It is satisfying people need for instant information, preserving as much information as they feel, and is even giving them an easier and cheaper way to share their own writings. Perhaps, or at least for me these is the most interesting part of what emerging media is offering us today. When Print started it was a few that had access to it and read it. For some time whoever was able to read will share whatever was printed to the rest of the people in their households or community. It was only a few people that were able to write to have something printed. Even if you got something printed, being able to distribute it was a whole new story especially with wars around the continent and censorship from governments and religion. Now a days there is still censorship, but the internet makes so much easier to get information across the world even against the will of governments. In addition you don’t have to be a skilled writer to post something online and get noticed. Most of the times is just being able to get your idea (no matter how genius or stupid it is) across in a way that is appealing to rest of the world.  

All in all print changed the way the world worked. The way every society communicated gave a 360 degree turn towards literacy. Today we face a new 360 degree as emerging media preserves infinite amount of writing for an unlimited amount of time (most of the times). What started to distribute literature and news has evolve to the people exposing their whole life’s in the web. Print may be starting to become obsolete in some sense but we can’t deny that without it I would not be writing this blog.