In memorandum of Web 1.0: A renaissance of the written word

A 15th century German goldsmith was named by the A&E Network and by Time Magazine as the most important and influential person of the last 1000 years. Johannes Gutenberg's movable type print technology forever revolutionized the face of Europe and ultimately the globe. News and books that were previously painstakingly copied by hand, after the Gutenberg Printing Press was invented, began to be disseminated at rapid-fire levels. This technology enabled the efficient flow of ideas and information across geographical boundaries and would forever leave its imprint on momentous periods of European history such as the Renaissance and Reformation. 

Many today say that we are living in a similar period of history -- that in various ways is analogous to the days of Gutenberg. The invention of the World Wide Web gave our modern era many gifts but the greatest gift, at least in its immature years, was the gift of access to instantaneous information and communication. Now though, some are noticing that the Web is maturing and that we are currently entering into phase two of its evolving history.  Web 2.0 is a hotly debated topic and means different things to different people, but at the heart and soul of what it means in practical terms for the Internet user is that we are transitioning from primarily text-based web-sites to multi-media based web-sites. 

Entering the web of a world that is tangled with RSS feeds and Flash video players will primarily enrich the lives of the masses. Yet, there are a few downsides to the web entering its adolescent years. The primary disadvantage is that the World Wide Web will now only add fuel to the post-literate society that much of the Western World inhabits. People will quickly revert back from reading predominantly text-based sites to consuming sites that produce primarily visual and aural media. Many of those who took the time to write and/or read the plethora of blogs that populated the web will eventually switch back to how they encounter the rest of their world by listening to or watching the podcasts or video podcasts which are becoming more common by the day.

This renaissance of reading the written word that was ushered in largely because of Web 1.0 technology has been a pleasant respite from the contemporary trend of living in a post-literate culture. Sure people weren't reading Shakespeare but at least they were practicing the much-needed spiritual discipline of engaging written logos and probably even in some subversive cases the supreme Logos as a result of the explosion of the World Wide Web.

Just as the printing press played a key role in the reproduction and dissemination of Martin Luther's historic posting of the 95 thesis on the Wittenberg church doors so have the technological miracle of blogs played a major role in questioning the functions and practices of various contemporary institutions. I completely understand that in many cases quite a few blogs are nothing more than narcissistic online journals but there are also currently a surplus of provocative and inspiring blogs which millions of eyeballs scan every day.

I agree with English poet Joseph Addison who wrote centuries ago that reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. I believe when we as learners of Christ read and even when we write we are fulfilling His creative mandate of ushering the kingdom of heaven onto planet earth. We not only need more purveyors of the poetic but also patrons of the poetic.

Poet/Theologian/Pastor Eugene Peterson defines poets and poetry in this way: poet uses words primarily not to explain something, and not to describe something, but to make something. Poet (poetes) means maker�. Poetry is not the language of objective explanation but the language of imagination. Even though technological advancements are currently causing a shift in how we experience the world around us we need to remember that it is the makers that meddle in the trade of engaging the imagination that will ultimately be the Body of Christ's greatest ally. 

May we never forget the era of Web 1.0 when the written word reigned supreme. Though society at large will remain predominately post-literate, may we as followers of the premier Logos live counter-cultural lives when it comes to establishing the written word as our foundation for how we filter all the various platforms of media which occupy our world today.

A fellow patron of the poetic, Dave Tippit