The Return of the Web

The Web returns our voice. That to me is the heart of the Web’s appeal and its importance. Weblogs are a perfect example of this: we get to write about what we want in the way that we want, without permission, without having to get a publisher to risk investing in us, without having to go through weeks of extensive rewriting and self-censorship. We can sound like who we are. We can even play with sounding like who we’d like to be or who we’re afraid we might really be or who we are in our culture’s nightmares. (Rageboy take note! :)

Ok, fine. But why is this a return of voice? When did we ever have it in the first place? And it’s not just voice that feels like a return. The sense of connection also seems, at least to me, like something that we once had and now have again. But of course that’s absurd. We’ve never been so connected to so many people in so many places.

The past of voice and connection is not a real past. It’s a mythic past. Origin myths and myths of golden ages have power because they express a longing for a part of our continuing nature. The Web’s gift of voice and connection feels like a reawakened memory because voice and connection have always been at the heart of who we are.

Categories: Uncategorized dw