Digital Rhetorics and the Privilege of Money

 A recent post on the WPA Listserv (from yesterday 3/2/14) inquires about suggestions for a student run literary magazine to be published on wordpress.  The post explains the difficulty of interacting with students from  other writing progams who retain significant amounts of funding.

And here we have the classism that prevents so many from seeking further education.  Ideas are there own currency.  Zero funding should be required to present ideas to a wider audience.

The professor writing the post explains that her students have brilliant promotional ideas.

I say, "So what?"

Promotional ideas have incredibly limited value.  They may raise the public consciousness of a magazine or blog, but such success is short-lived.  If a blog or magazine publishes content that is innovative, revolutionary, worthwhile, they do not need to promote.  Ideas  will prevail.  They will impact a scarily small portion of society, but they will impact that portion of society that gives a fuck (excuse my language).

I say, why in the hell are you worried about promotional ideas?  Why not worry about the quality, the significance of a blog?  This focus on "promotional ideas" destroys students.  It doesn't matter if your blog doesn't "attract" a goddamn reader.  You are not writing to attract, you are writing to explain something that to you is a truth.

If you think I'm putting words in your mouth, do us all a favor and stop writing.  Now.

I think we can all agree that we should listen to Bob Dylan; if he can be bothered to talk he probably has something important to say.  And Bob Dylan has told us, "A man is a success if he goes to bed at night and wakes up in the morning, and in between he does what he wants to do."





"Promotional ideas" are a waste of time.  Don't appeal to the lowest common denominator.  If you have something to say, say it.  If people don't see its value, they can go do unpublishable things to themselves.

Stop comprosing, and start L-I-V-I-N like everybody's favorite burnout Wooderson.

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