|
|
|
I have always liked to run to the mailbox, and see if I got mail. Later this translated well went I got email. The most fun when you have email, or a mail box is having a pen pal, someone you know or don't know. However, there is a more basic joy in just running to the mailbox and seeing if you got anything, even if you haven't written anybody lately. You are out there, available for contact, and part of this world, even if you are just the target of junk mail. But a website takes the step even further. You put your stuff up, like a bulliten board, or an art show. It is published, in a sense. (Good question, why do people bother to publish their work?) And then you wait. You check the stats, fine tune the site, and wait for some acknowledgement that your bytes have reached someone's cpu. Most of the time you don't get email responses--readers are not as reliable as junk mail. But you notice contact in small ways, often when checking the stats. Who's been looking at my page, you wonder, and where did they come from? This is a more meaniningful query than how many hits did I have today. You look and see some url you've never seen. Someone's linked to you. You get that I GOT LINKED high, and check to see if it is someone you know. And when it isn't, you wonder how they got to you. You are delighted when you find out that it is some random person who cared enough to advertise your like corner of the web. So, this dramatic complicated rendering of the joy of websiting, is meant to illustrate what is basically a simple basic joy of being connected to other human beings. Not in a purposeful way, nor in a random way. But in the way that the web functions best--as a hyperlink way, from one link to another. Someone has jumped to you (i.e. a hit) and decided to stay. People who stay, even in a small way, are what makes the web worthwhile to me. Of course, then there is the issue of webmarket girl, webpages that make money, that you have to deal with. One you decide to webit, you have to consider the potential of making a profit. In this day and age, if you do it right, it isn't too hard to make some money off a webgirl site. But then your whole perspective changes. People who stay become for you people who pay. You charge for membership to your site, your small corner of the web, and you have an audience you feel compelled to entertain. You want to create a base readership, and the dips in the stats worries you. I have no problem with webmarket girls--nor do I think that they are selling their souls or stripping any meaning that comes from the web experience. However, in my own consideration, I just can't justify myself in the transition to webmarket girl. The simple connections that come from changing your site to your own liking with no focus (other than simple consideration) on others is more important to me than the profits. Webgirls and Webmarketgirls simply approach their websites with slightly different perspectives. The goals are mainly the same, but the process of designing a cyber haven for potential readers is different when you know that people are paying or not. Obviously this is a complex issue, and I am sure I could get some flak from the webmarketgirls out there. But this webgirl has decided to stay free ...at least for now,
|
Welcome to
journal entry February 8. Tonight I watched one of my
favorite shows: NYPD Blue. Thus the background, and the
music, and the image to the left. I was very impressed by
the clever beginning of a farewell to one character, and
the slight of hand beginning of an introduction to a new
character. The show did the usual great job of juggling
intricate and compelling plot lines. One in particular
that moved me had to do with Jill's dilemma with her
ex-husband who has been collared. The friendship between
her and her partner Diane, and the lengths that Diane
will go to save Jill from any pain, really moved me.
Friendship could probably be seen as the main theme of
this episode. I am looking forward to how they develop
this theme, and the relationships of all the characters.
One thing I kept thinking while watching was that I could
see how they could film the show with out a script very
far ahead of time. However, the director and writer do
not decide on key scenes until often the same day of the
shooting of the scene. Perhaps this lends a freshness to
the dramatic moments, but with all of the complex
settings, dialogue, and camara shots, it shows tremendous
skill. So, I was watching from a different angle tonight,
and was impressed even more by the result.