Writing in a Digital Age: Permanence

October 23, 2007

This post is part of a series examining John August’s speech, The Challenge of Writing in a Digital Age.

The third point in John August’s speech was Permanence. But what he really spoke to was the lack thereof.

If I’m sending you to read a story online, I can’t be certain you’ll read the same thing I read.

August recounted a story about how an article on Variety’s website was changed throughout the day. Earlier in the day, there was no quote from him. Later in the day, there was.

This isn’t just a concern for journalism. Imagine if corporate annual reports could be revised that transparently. That’s dangerous. Illegal. And inevitable.

I respectfully disagree with Mr. August here.

I think the digital age enhances the opportunity for accuracy. Print media takes too long to make corrections. From a reader noticing an error to the next time a publication is printed to corrections being buried within the content, print is far more subject to the concerns that Mr. August seems to be expressing.

Having corporate annual reports be transparent is a good thing. It empowers greater accountability. If there’s an error, it can be corrected for all to see. Though, I would encourage companies to let the corrections and old information be evident to the public.

The idea of transience is one of the most difficult concepts about the digital age for people to embrace. But the reality is that the permanence of traditional media as it relates to accuracy has been, at times, a myth.

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Posted in Conversation Marketing by Nathania Johnson