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?
Wow. That is interesting. I had no idea all that was happening. See, the internet is a big place. I’m positive I still have no idea as to the vastness of it all, really. Be encouraged to keep on keeping on. Thanks for sharing.
Holy cow. I ummm, went to read through the comments to see what was up, sorry, but very interesting that there’s this huge controversy on something I know nothing about. I am so sorry schatz that you all got hit in the face with this. If it’s at all helpful, I thought it was fascinating, as someone with not much if any skin in the game, to read through ALL the comments, even those that I couldn’t understand, and I do think that it sounds as though some people are getting food for thought. I certainly did. I’m totally going to go look up this guy and see what he suggests, since, holy moley, he’s a polarizing figure. . . Good luck figuring out the next step!