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So, in counterpoint to the rather crochet-y questioning of my last post, i'm sharing here a testimony i wrote a number of years ago about the wonderfully expanded (okay, well also dangerously constricted!) world of the web. It's called Reading Culture: A Nudge in the Direction of Doubt--and i'm interested both in your reactions to the various ideas floating there...as well as in your own related testimonies, stories of your own experiences of working on the internet....
well, i'll start with the 'challenge' piece, just bc i want to use that box, and also pick up the topic of the title, do a little expanding/complexifying (still don't feel quite the same to me, but it's fine, know we can't express every gradation of relationship here:)
interesting to read your piece, anne, layered in terms of time, my memories of those earlier days on web and of you, paul, others exploring that...and my own resistance, so starting with this from your piece:
For my generation, the internet is where we encounter strangers. We didn't play much outside, didn't converse much with the neighbors, and were rather suspicious of people we didn't recognize walking down our streets. The internet engulfs you in a world where everyone has equal power of speech (I don't mean that in a Declaration sense) and where you must assume that everyone is a greasy, old man in his basement trying to lure you into danger. I played online games like Runescape when I was little and coversed with people I will never meet.