I mention this because it reminds me how many of my young friends — and here I talk about a certain bunch of charming children at the Bournemouth Media School — treat the web. It’s been around for so long, for approximately half their lives, and so solidly, that they take it for granted. Brazenly.Web is something they need to invest time in at some point, they realise. But not today. Because today, Google will serve them their breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they are happy with that, thank you so very much. 

And I say, there’s so much more to the Web than Google. So much more than Hotmail. So much more, certainly, than MSN Messenger, which a few of my enterprising friends happily chat on during my workshops, and which, being an astute person, I pretend not to notice.

I have been trying, quite unsuccessfully, to get them online body and soul. To blog. I have asked them to read up on the phenomenon, what it has brought with it, but I am willing to stick my neck out and say not many has done that.

Ergo, this blog.

The way I see it, if my young friends need a gun to their heads before they introduce themselves to the wonderful life out there, so be it. I will hold that gun. Happily. So now on, this is where all the action will be…

• For starters, this will be my primary communication channel with my students outside contact hours. Email is too boring, don’t you think? Not as vibrant, interactive.
• All supplementary material I have — and I have plenty — will be posted here. Ditto, all the stuff I forget to mention in the lectures. Is easier for me to post, easier for you to access.
• I hope to build this into a wealth of resources, for online communication, writing, editing, reporting, the works. A permabookmark (cousin to permalink). Check out the right menu to see what I mean.
• And, finally, with your help, I hope to turn this into a discussion forum for people interested in the areas we mentioned above… an online classroom.

If you’ve come this far, it’s most likely you are one of them I have been whinging about. And it is for you, this last bit. Here’re a few things I would like you to do:

• One, bookmark this site.
• Two, check it every day.
• Three, let us discuss the writing you have read so far. Is it the kind that will work on the web? Is it ‘inclusive’, ‘polished’, ‘conversational’?

No, no, don’t tell me offline. Talk to me online, comment below. Let’s blogchat, shall we?