Well that was a nice, unintended break from posting.
Something that’s hit home for me this week is just how vast the Internet really is, and, truly, how virtual it all is. That there can be stress, disagreement and even name-calling on a website or forum, and then you close your laptop, walk outside and it’s silenced. That’s kind of amazing. I’ve also realized how different people use the internets in different ways, and what may appear to mainstream/popular crowd sites to some, are virtually unknown to the rest of the world wide web users out there.
A college roommate of mine has started a new venture, Persephone Magazine, a daily, online destination for women. I’m contributing, and it’s fun because I think it will give me a chance to test some non-mom muscles every now and again. But here’s the thing– we are the same age, live in the same town and share many of the same interests. Her inspirations for the site, the sites from which modeled after, and who she thinks is a big deal on the web are completely different from my inspirations and aspirations world wide web wise. Which is exciting because we are already learning a lot from each other. And? She’s kind of a wordpress goddess, and who can’t use one of those in her life??
The other interesting thing from this past week is the internet explosion that happened on Grown In My Heart. The intentions were simple –plan on conference on a cruise ship that could be inspiring for anyone involved in adoption. The seven writers who attended BlogHer this past summer thought it could be done. We had such great conversations and brainstorming that weekend, we thought it would translate easily to the online community at large. We spent almost two months figuring out a locale, and had started to secure speakers, so we thought it’d be a good time to put out some information about an event we were so very excited about.
Then it all broke loose. Comments started flying around like rotten tomatoes. Attempts to reign it in flopped fantastically, and well, to be honest, we’re not quite sure where to go from here. I don’t really even recommend delving into the comments, because any voice of reason and any valid points are very hard to separate from people’s rants and personal agendas.
Again, what’s amazing though, is that unless you read the site, you have no idea that that little corner of the internet exploded on itself. Little earthquakes happen like that every single day, I’m sure, all over the Internet.
I’ve also been riveted by the coverage of teen bullying, and learning a lot about Google AdWords and keyword searches. My friend Jason has been talking a lot about bullying on his radio show, and I’ve never been prouder to call him my friend or my prom date.
As so that’s been my past week on the internet. What’s new with you?
