This article by Orson Scott Card (his name, not something you’d play in a political debate or in a game of Magic the Gathering) is as insightful a commentary on the digital culture shift as I’ve read recently. The idea that the Internet is not so much a service as an invasion is worth more than a few minutes of rumination. And I had never stopped to consider how the period of time between hand-written letters and email – where undocumented conversations via long distance telephone calls dominated social communication – would hamper the work of historians. Probably because I’m not a historian. Apparently, email archives have alleviated that problem to some degree, but we should certainly give more thought to the difficult work of historians as we are texting and talking on our cell phones. Though, perhaps the proliferation of video taken on cell phones and then posted on Facebook will change the landscape of historical record. That said, given what we already know about the new landscape of historical record (what happens on the web stays on the web), it’s a potent reminder to us denizens of the ‘unfiltered’ age that some things should remain unsaid. And unseen. The delightful image here is by Chad Crowe. To read the article, click on the link below.

How Friend Became a Verb by Orson Scott Card