Week 14

Considering both Lessig and Jenkins, what does it mean to be a writer in the
21st century? Does the emergence of digital technologies and Web 2.0 allow for
new ways of composing?

Being a writer in the 21st century is much different than in any other century for that main reason that we now have computers and word processors.  Lessig states that writing now has become coding, HTML and other programming languages.  However I think that writing has changed in to very informal writing such as Facebook posts and Instagram captions.  I believe this has happened because a thousand years ago writing was careful and planed because there was very limited resources to write on.  Now places to write are abundant and infinite.  With the world wide web and other digital technologies has created many new ways to compose writing by word processors and blogs such as this website.  Blogger is a perfect  example of how composing texts has changed.  On Blogger someone can quickly draft a flawless text and put it up on a billboard that everyone in the world can see at any time.  

Journal 14

Considering both Lessig and Jenkins, what does it mean to be a writer in the 21st century? Does the emergence of digital technologies and Web 2.0 allow for new ways of composing? 

Writers in the 21st century are people that write using the internet as their main tool. Information is available to them for over thousands of sources, and they can also easily communicate with people from all over the world, comparing thoughts and opinions. Before writers in the 21st century, people would rely on others to edit their writing, making sure it would be understood by other people and not just themselves. Now, people use the internet which offers multiple tools and downloadable applications that can edit their paper for any type of audience. The main factor of 21st century writers is collaboration, which is mostly shown through the use of quotes, showing other peoples ideas were incorporated into the writing, supporting the main writers ideas. 

The emergence of digital technologies and Web 2.0 does allow for new ways of composing. Technology is now becoming the main way that people compose their writing, I rarely ever see people writing on paper, people are always typing on their computer. Not only can a writer use a common writing format, but can also compose in a blog or website, etc. When writing is composed digitally, it is easier for more people to access, read, and enjoy many forms of writing. Technology will continue to improve as the years go on, giving us even more advantages and advancement for composing writing. 

week 14

To be a writer in the 21st century can be difficult. Most of the great words have been said and the great ideas have already occurred. What Lessig alludes to is the idea of using the words of great writers and our own words to make a new and refreshing piece. Collaboration with other writers work helps shine light to new ideas. The quotes pulled from other authors are the backbone of the piece; the words support ideas with theories that have been echoed through time.
The new age of technology has allowed work to be shared around the world. The sharing of work brings people closer by giving them a chance to collaborate and feed off of each others ideas. Like with the kid that made the "Daily Prophet" so other children like himself can write their own online newspaper. The sharing of these kids ideas was only possible because the use of the internet brought them closer.

Week 14 Journal

Before the age of advanced technology, the title of a writer was only given to a select group of individuals who were published, professional, and who made a living off of their writing. However, times have changed and new innovations in technology are continuously made, making the act of writing not only more accessible, but also more common in doing so. With the adoption of computers, smartphones, tablets and other communication devices, the people are now presented with many options to get their word out, if they so chose to. In addition to the increase in technology ownership, social networking sites have been on the incline as well and have granted users with yet another means of communicating their thoughts to the public, making them, in a sense, writers. Although a great majority of these people do not professionally publish their writing for an income, they do indeed perform the act of writing and are therefore considered writers regardless of the reach of their words or the content that they are producing. The emergence of digital technologies and Web 2.0 have allowed for countless methods of composing works of all sorts as well as venues to display their writing so that it is easily accessible for the general public. To be a writer in the 21st century, in my opinion, does not mean as much as being considered a writer before the age of advanced technology and the internet. This is primarily because it so much easier to not only compose, but also to get the word out and to more people than we can even imagine. Now, anyone who writes is basically a writer, whereas back then it was only those select individuals who possessed superior writing ability and worked hard to publish a book or other text based piece. I feel that the content of the fewer writers in the pre-technological age was more respectable and of higher quality as composed to the ever increasing mass of individuals who publish anything they please (regardless of its quality) and often times do not put as much thought into their writing because it is easy to get it out and into the public. I feel that although these new technologies have made the process of writing and publication easier, the standard of writing has been lowered because of this ease. These new methods of composing have introduced a new, lower standard of what writing and what writers are, changing the field a great deal.

I think being a writer in the 21st century is vastly different situation and holds a different meaning than those who've previously lived. The introduction of the internet shapes the way we look at writing and is responsible for the 'remix' of writing. People are now able to put there writing out there to thousands, even millions of people. A feat that was nearly impossible just a few years ago. The concept of quoting is also an ever changing art form. Access to information is easier than ever before therefore using old works in a common place now. The article was right, it would be very strange to email someone or an institution asking to quote their works. Citing is a very common practice that is made even easier by online bibliography citations. Blogging has also allowed people to easily comment on writing and other art forms. Blogging also in formalizes writing. Blogging is not regulated by an institution nor do many works take long periods of time to compose. Most blogs are quick little snippets of one's experiences or opinions.

Week 14 Journal

Considering both Lessig and Jenkins, what does it mean to be a writer in the 21st century? Does the emergence of digital technologies and Web 2.0 allows for new ways of composing?

Lessig writes, "The RW internet is an ecosystem," in the writing that we read for this week. Within the essay he argues that writing in the 21st century is completely different from writing in the 20th century. With the aid of digital technology and the invention of the internet new ways of writing emerged. Today we have access to a world of knowledge at our fingertips allowing us, as writers, to gather information and use that information to create "texts". In our current society, a text is much more than a credible piece of writing; texts today are pictures, videos, music, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, vlogs, etc. We can, as writers, take from all of these sources and compile bits and pieces of that writing to create something new, much like our past generations did in a library with books and newspapers. What's different now is that we can gather information about a picture taken in 1975 in a moment's notice while students and writers in say, 1980, had to wait until a newspaper was released or an encyclopedia was published.

Composing texts is different now in many ways. The internet allows us, as humans who have their own opinions, to speak out and talk about things as insignificant as what we ate for breakfast that day to blasting the President about his views on environmental protection in a public forum or a blog or a post on some sort of social media. This writing is different than traditional writing such as essays and mandatory assignments. This sort of composing is fueled by our emotions, by the things we find interesting or the things that we are attached to in some sort of way. What is most different between twenty years ago and now, is that most everyone has access to this way of writing. It is public, created for use by everyone.

Before the computer and the creation of the World Wide Web, the masses (meaning populations of people) had to rely on getting information from their televisions and radios. As technology got more and more advanced these dinosaurs of media forms became less needed. As internet became more increasingly available, the average TV reporter and radio broadcaster were no longer needed as the information that they were reporting on had become available hours before the show aired. Information and text were now at our finger tips, allowing us to see the future of the internet, and ultimately changing how generations to come would be able to write.

Blogs, forums, and social media as Lessig says, "are becoming an increasingly dominant form of “writing.” The Internet didn’t make these other forms of “writing” (what I will call simply “media”) significant. But the Internet and digital technologies opened these media to the masses. Using the tools of digital technology— even the simplest tools, bundled into the most innovative modern operating systems— anyone can begin to “write” using images, or music, or video." Digital technologies (computers, smart phones, the internet, etc.) are precisely why writing has evolved to include blogs and such because they aid us in our understanding of our lives and what's happening around us.

Week 14

Based on what Lessig and Jenkins had to say, there are so many more opportunities available to the 21^st century writer. Also, I believe this means that the 21^st century writer can be anyone. This concept in confirmed by how well we have progressed over time. It is so much easier to “write” in comparison to previous times. The heights the 21^st century writer (just about anyone) can attain are limitless, and with that there is a definite sense of freedom.

The emergence of digital technologies plays an enormous role in the life of the 21^st century writer. One can argue that more writing is now done digitally than physically. It is just a faster, usually more efficient way to get your ideas expressed and out into the public. It also opens the door for a number of new ways in which one can compose. These days, a “writer” can write a book using a computer. These days, a “writer” (musical artist) can write a song using a computer. These days, a writer (the average student) can turn in a term paper using a computer. There are so many ways that one can compose these days, due to the ever-changing and evolving capabilities of the digital technologies that exist now.

Last week, we read about Jenkins article and how profound of an impact Harry Potter has had on our culture. There was one particular example from that article that I found interesting and that we discussed in class. It was the young lady who created the “Daily Prophet”, the site where avid Harry Potter fans could immerse themselves into a world that coincides with that of the Harry Potter world. This composition was obviously very important to a number of people, and a particular form of digital technology facilitated this.

In Lessig’s reading, he talks about the extensive yet so accurate and elegant way in which his roommate could incorporate others works to prove his point in his texts. I found it interesting how he pointed out that at a point in time there was a double standard that existed regarding copyright issues between physical texts and digital texts. There was a judge he brought up who was absolutely opposed to the idea of using others’ works and incorporating some of those ideas into one’s own ideas (regarding digitally-music). He came down hard on those artists, who I believe were rap artists. He felt that doing that digitally is much more serious than if you were writing a book and gathering sources. I feel they are all synonymous, as long as one’s sources are accurately transcribed in the physical text or form of digital technology.