Writing quality works of art when posting online

In an ever-changing technological world you can say whatever you like however you like. If you dislike a certain TV show, film or actor you can post a comment, write a blog post or submit a scathing review to some online forum. But, responses written without consideration of content, intent and purpose tend to insight frustration from not only opposing viewpoints but from well-intentioned writers, like myself, who use writing as an art form. Instead of instantaneously lambasting someone on a public forum take the time to realize that the words you choose matter. What you have to say matters.

Yes, written and art go hand in hand and yes you can write quality work.  As someone who doesn’t discourage anyone else from artistic endeavors I also question the sporadic postings and writings that frequent the online community.  Anyone and everyone has an opinion to share and I welcome the chance to discuss various points of view.  That being said, just because someone decides to share their opinion in written form doesn’t automatically mean the finished product will be quality work.  Grammar, punctuation and sentence structure occasionally disappear or are tossed aside due to time restraints, inconvenience or just plain apathy.  Why bother capitalizing a letter when the reader obviously knows what you’re talking about?  And commas?  What a pain in the…

We are very quickly becoming a society based on the shortest, easiest possible way to get your point across. We take red lights and stop signs as mere suggestions, cut people off in line and don’t bother taking the time and/or energy to write long hand. Write long hand? What’s that? Why in the world would I waste time using pen and paper when I can use my computer? Who needs to learn proper grammar or spelling when word processing software takes care of any errors for me?

So, while someone can spend five minutes writing “[insert name here] is the worst actress ever, how did she ever get a job. i wish they’d kill off her character already. She’s so stupid…” perhaps a more thoughtful way to get your message across would be, “While I don’t particular enjoy the progression of [insert name here]’s character I think there’s room for improvement.” For some odd reason a great deal of people have the assumption that the accessibility of online forums doesn’t require decency, quality and respectful communication. If anything, the opposite may be true.

Along the way, while we search for more technological solutions to ease our busy lives have we also pushed aside an art form that still holds value? So the next time you have a desire to express your viewpoint in written form online perhaps taking a moment to jot it down first might be helpful. After all, there’s a reason it’s called Language Arts.