Posted February 13th, 2007 at 11:59AMAndrew F., The Last New Media Essay
An apt subtitle for this piece might be along these lines: “A formal essay, published on the internet, lamenting the end of the essay in the face of the internet.”
Andrew begins by butchering the traditional essay, an outmoded form of writing. The claim is then made that the weblog is the 21st century platform for nu-essay writing. He outlines several examples that take advantage of the benefits of online digital media to varying degrees. The first blog features staid, lengthy pieces that might be at home in any print book. The second features shorter posts and links to other sites on the interweb. But it still quotes extensively – a holdover from print media, we are led to believe. The integration of third-party Web 2.0 wunderkinds like YouTube or Flickr is the final, most comprehensive embrace of the new digital essay.
For the most part, I feel no need to argue with Andrew’s assessment here. (What’s the point?) But I am still led back to that question of why this change is even occurring. Is it what popular society wants, or is it the result of advancing technology? A decade ago, we did not expect our internet writers to pull photos from their photo albums or videos from their favorite video site. Now that we have the ability, we clamor for it and say that it’s the natural progression of things. Of course writing must become more visually slick and engaging, focused less on big words and more on aesthetic considerations. Of course we want to dumb down the written word to the level of television. It’s so obvious in hindsight, right? 
Can the de-emphasis of text really be the future of writing? Are picture books considered literary works? What if we put them online and stream music?\
The times they are a-changing.
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