Just over 10 years ago people who enjoy the Internet but are not native users started marvelling at the opportunities that web 1.0 offered. First it became possible to communicate with friends, family and colleagues without having to rely on slow or intrusive means. Not only. We all remember the agony of finding material for one's thesis, teaching and studying aids, song lyrics, biographical information about whoever, the name of who played what, where and when? Suddenly it was all possible in no time. The universal library had opened its doors, possibly making it less useful or desirable to visit real ones.
Then web 2.0 came along. And with it came this amazing urge to express oneself, to "let other people know", and not just friends. Lots of people started writing, even those who had never dreamt of keeping a personal diary. Millions now write on their own or other people's blogs, on message boards, on social networks? They want to talk about themselves, about how they feel, about what happens to them, about their views. Many of those who had always simply read for fun, for a practical purpose or for some other unexpressed inexpressible reason now need to tell others what they have loved or hated and why. It's as if reading in itself was not enough anymore. Finding the right words, making one's posts appealing can be difficult but it is above all extremely time consuming, especially if, along with writing, one also wants to keep up with other people's opinions and argue with them. Paradoxically there isn't as much time for traditional reading as before?
Even professional writers haven't missed the chance of having their own Internet space to advertise and maybe clarify their work but also to communicate with their readers beyond mere commercial reasons. And how great it is for the simple reader, who could once feel close to his favourite authors only through what they wrote, to now be able to ask them questions directly, to comment and argue on the latest books, to show off his intellectual skills even and, at times, to arouse the authors' interest. The anonymous reader suddenly feels like a "someone" in the mind of those he admires. And the writer feels part flattered, part involved, part curious because, after all, she has always been interested in other human beings and here are many she'd never have "met" otherwise. And yet, she also feels the burden of responsibility for all the questions these people want an answer for; she has to acknowledge even those she'd have done without. Now there's not just the interviews, the readings and the many books to sign at presentations; there is the blog to keep up with, the requests to fulfil, new ideas to explore? The travelling and the "webbing" become so demanding that sometimes it feels as if she doesn't have the time and tranquillity to just sit down and start the new novel that her fans anxiously await so that they can, once again, read it, dissect it, comment on it, propose interpretations?
So what has become of writers and what of readers now? And will this interchange modify professional writing the way it has possibly modified many people's reading? The future will soon tell us.