A Quest Begins

I don’t know what I am talking about.

I was told this, not ten minutes ago, by the teacher of a class I’m taking about Business and the Future of Journalism.

Now, I won’t pretend I know a whole lot, and oftentimes I have been concerned that I really DON’T know what I’m talking about. But the subject at hand was, basically, the internet, and how people can thrive and succeed online–something that I’ve actually prided myself significantly on knowing quite a lot about. So, to be told that I DON’T know how the hell the internet functions is akin to a slap on the face to me.

Now, the point is valid. I realize now that I’m operating on extremely limited, idealistic information that is validated only because I say so, and not by any evidence–or at least, any evidence I can provide. So that leaves me a few options: one is to dismiss the claim, scowling and strutting out of the classroom, muttering under my breath about how it’s THEM who don’t know what THEY are talking about, and put it out of my mind.

But I am, in my opinion,  a smart man. Smarter than most, I’d like to think, and certainly smart when it comes to the internet, which I have spent countless hours and hours and hours of my adolescent to post-adolescent life communicating with, interacting with, and understanding. But intelligence is useless without learning, and I AM in college to, ostenably, learn. Ironic, indeed, in a class where a fundamental and ongoing discussion is “Why are we even learning what we are learning in our journalism classes if, indeed, the very nature and model of how journalism is conducted is being questioned, needs to change, and is antiquated.” So, I am here to learn, but I’m not being TAUGHT what I need to learn. I need to learn on my own, and discover more thorough knowledge.

So, I’m undertaking a quest–a quest I would like your help with, you faceless readers who have probably all but lost interest in what I had to say long ago. How DOES one succeed on the internet? What does one have to do to profit, benefit, and do good in a digital world where everything is free, subject to sudden and rapid change, and utterly, completely unpredictable? I need to learn, and I need to learn NOW.

So, tell me what you know. What you think. What you believe. In the meanwhile, I’m going to be gathering my own information, seeking my own sources, and I’ll be keeping you all posted on what I find out. Hopefully, we’ll all learn something, and I won’t be called an idiot to my face. That’ll make everyone happy, right? Right.

Wish me luck, denizens of the digital sphere. I shall go where few dare to tread, and I may not return the same.

Advertisement

~ by rentcavalier on September 14, 2009.