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ssherman's picture

When Jessy asked us

When Jessy asked us yesterday what kind of writing we did that wasn't academic, my first thought was nothing.  However ashamed I am to admit it, I have a livejournal, but I hardly ever write in it anymore.  But when people started saying email, and Jessy suggested ims, facebook, and texts, I was intrigued and have spent some time reading over things I write- like email, facebook wall posts/messages and texts.  Someone suggested that these things weren't writing because they weren't published.  But couldn't one make the argument that anything one posts online, whether on serendip or facebook is published?  When I write on someone's facebook wall, I realize that what I am writing can be read by others, including people I don't know.  So I don't put things that I wouldn't want to share with people I don't know in wall posts.  Besides the "i miss you" posts, for the most part I do put some thought into what I'm writing.  Especially if someone writes something witty and I want to write something witty back.  I feel like we all feel a little vulnerable having everything on serendip available for anyone to see, but really even on facebook, where only your friends can see things on your profile, you are really exposing yourself more than you may realize.  Last year, sometime in the spring, my 11th grade math teacher (who is so awesome and has a facebook) wrote on my wall, "Everything you do on Facebook amuses me.  And you do a *lot* of things on Facebook."  I would say up until that point I never really lot about all the things I did online could be viewed and interpreted any way someone wants to.  And I think that really allowed me to realize what I did and didn't want the world to see.  And now that my campers from this summer and all have facebooks and are friends with me, I not only watch what I put on facebook, but what others put on facebook that involves me.  I really think I totally just got off whatever my original point was, but I really do believe that any form of writing, be it im, texts, facebook, or email, are real forms of writing.

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