Networking

            In the latest edition of the novel “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame Smith, Smith writes an introduction.  In this introduction, Smith tells the reader that he and his long-time editor have never met in person, but have exchanged thousands of e-mails over the course of the years.  I couldn’t help but think of this while reading the article (it might not be so much death of the author, as death of the editor, but still).  In that vein, I chose to write about networking.

            This section of the piece focuses on authorship and how newer modes of connectivity blur the lines of ownership because efforts are more communal, i.e. wikipedia.  I kept wondering if that communal effort has not been present for a long time, just less questioned.  Doesn’t every book written have an editor, a proofreader, someone who picks the font, designs the cover, does the binding, and so on.  Why are these boundaries any less obvious than the question of ownership over digital texts?  Why does that even matter?

            When I thought about my animation, I had to wonder, who designed the type face?  Do they, or the designer of the software, deserve less credit than I for using the tools they put at my disposal?  For the example that we saw in class of animated poetry, who owns the authorship for those, the writer, the animator, or the designer?  I can understand the complexities behind the legal logistics of copyright, but haven’t these issues always been there, just unquestioned?  The editor knows he will not have a byline on the cover, so it’s okay, apparently.                   

            Reading the blogs in this class give me an odd sense of ownership over the author.  Martha, for example, sits near me most every class period.  She is quiet, and we rarely have a chance to speak.  Since I read her blog, I have a misplaced intimacy with her.  I know that she is a writer and elaborates on academic texts in a profound but easy to follow manner.  It is the same way with facebook.  I often see people’s status updates without speaking to them.

            I could ask Hayley, “How was your trip?” without her mentioning it to me.  I own that experience as much as she does with little to no physical interaction.  That is a disconnected kind of relationship, one that has never had to be dealt with before the advent of social media or blogs.  Do we know these people, really?