“Look around you. Everything changes. everything on this earth is in a continuous state of evolving, refining, improving, adapting, enhancing, and changing. You were not put on this earth to remain stagnant.” Dr. Steve Mataboli. With seemingly unconventional communication and literary mediums such as texting, instant messaging , social media platforms, and the cult classic wattpad now apart of everyday life, the pesky pen and papyrus purists are livid. In today’s society, dubbed by some as the ‘social media saga’, there are interesting debates about if the essence and spirit of reading and writing has been lost and trivialized with the rampart advancement of technology. This argument, often led by bitter old heads, seems out of touch and driven by partisan views that quite frankly, still won’t get me to read to poetry buddy. One example of this is displayed in a Medium article written by Lindsey Sainnei, who openly admits bias. She erupts this idiocy with the following, ” I know what many readers are probably thinking: she’s a bitter loser who can’t get her own stuff published. And yeah, that’s true, but my bitterness is only so blatant because it sincerely frustrates me to read these ‘poems’. It bewilders me sometimes that topics such as these, ultimately rooted around change and adaptability, are even topics of discussion at all. Especially considering many would use the fore-mentioned characteristics as important metrics when discussing anyone/anything in any industry. Whether it’s the ability of a restaurant to adopt to new food trends and tastes, or a music legend trying to capture the attention of a new, younger fanbase, change is something we think we don’t like, but inevitably subconsciously yearn for. A similar sentiment to was shared by a reader in the comments under the article. Beverly Caceres wrote, “Social media gives anyone the same leverage and tools to promote their art and themselves. This guy is posting 5–10 times a days and selling his poetry book bundles to the followers he’s acquiring. Don’t hate his hustle!” You see, my mom had a quote from my childhood that sticks with me to this day and is applicable in this case. Whenever we were at the store she would always say, “When I say its time to go, you betta beat me to the bus, not meet me there, cause yo ass will get left.” Don’t get left by the bandwidth bus trying to ride the notepad pony all the time.
Literature & the Internet 