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Issue 17
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In this issue ~~
* Arts and the Internet
* Cyber-Support Groups and Communities
* Creative Tip
* Wise Words
* Bookshelf
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Arts
and the Internet
Over the last few years, the Internet has become a major part
of our culture. We communicate, we investigate, we play, we shop,
and so much more. For artists, the Web has become a valuable
resource, both for finding material, contacts and supplies and
for presenting our work to the public.
Getting online and surfing the Web can be intimidating at
first, with its mysterious and confusing technology. But once
you're up and running (and lots of help is available for that
from books and Internet service providers), using the Internet
is amazingly easy and productive. The World Wide Web is literally
that -- worldwide -- and gives you access to data and resources
that were unavailable or difficult to find just a few short years
ago, and without even leaving your home.
The Internet offers several benefits and opportunities for
artists:
~ Research and resources that in the past meant going to libraries
or making numerous visits or phone calls are now available at
the click of your mouse. This can be a huge time-saver. Plus,
the search capabilities of the Web can, with the use of well-chosen
keywords, lead you directly to pertinent information that might
have taken you hours or days to uncover at the library. Many
government documents, news items and a myriad of information
from an endless variety of sources are accessible this way. Of
course, like any other research, you do have to evaluate its
credibility, based on the source and how well it's documented.
~ Many artists have taken advantage of the Web as an accessible
and inexpensive way to display, promote and sell their work.
A web site is fairly easy and inexpensive to mount and maintain,
and it can be reached instantly by anyone with an Internet connection.
It can serve as a brochure, a gallery for your work, a way for
people to contact you and, in some cases, a way to sell your
work directly to the consumer. Writers, artists and even musicians
can post samples of their work, both for the general public and
as professional references. Rather than sending samples, you
can simply direct prospective customers or employers to your
web site. And for graphic artists and web designers, the web
site itself can be a showcase of your work.
~ The Internet makes it easy for people to find and contact
you, and for you to find them. Many artists, agents, suppliers,
publishers and others have their own web sites and often include
contact information. Artists can track down and order hard-to-find
supplies and equipment that aren't available locally. Writers
can find publishers' guidelines, a writing critique group or
an online class. If you need to contact an expert to interview
for your book or article, the Web is just the place to look.
And e-mail provides a gentle, non-intrusive way to approach people
you don't know, even famous ones.
~ The fast-growing technology of the Internet has opened up
new avenues to graphic designers and writers. Web sites need
to be designed and written and require a different approach than
printed materials. The interactive capabilities offer a new challenge
and new ways for communicating with your audience that have never
been possible before. And again, the accessibility can't be stressed
enough. Despite the tremendous scope of the Web, people tend
to gravitate to common-interest sites, and your name and work
can become known in your particular community.
Much of your research on the Web can begin with the use of
search engines and directories such as Google (www.google.com), Yahoo (www.yahoo.com), Altavista (www.altavista.com), and Dogpile (www.dogpile.com), or by using the "Search"
function on your browser. Use the "Bookmark" function
to record sites you may want to visit again. Start with some
of the following to find appropriate resources for your field
and see how other artists are using their web sites, and then
follow links to find additional sites on your favorite topics:
THEATRE
www.backstage.com
www.playbill.com
www.londontheatre.co.uk
DANCE
www.danceart.com
www.balletarchive.org
MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
www.musiciansnetwork.com
www.ubl.com
* Classical music
www.classical.net
www.classicalsinger.com
ART
www.art.com
www.fine-art.com
* Artists' home pages
www.the-artists.org
PHOTOGRAPHY
www.sightphoto.com/photo.html
www.photographymuseum.com
fotophile.com/links/fineart.htm
WRITING
* Resources, jobs, etc.
www.writerswrite.com/
* Support groups and classes
www.writers.com
* Dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses
www.onelook.com/browse.shtml
www.encyberpedia.com/glossary.htm
* Author home pages
www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8078/homepage.html
* Online bookstores
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
This list is just a beginning. The World Wide Web is an endless
resource, with new links being created every day. Set aside some
time and go off on a cyber-adventure. You'll learn how to navigate
the Web, in both random and directed ways, and find resources
you can use now and in the future.
Top
Cyber-Support
Groups and Communities
One of the great boons of the Internet and the various online
services has been the opportunity to get connected with people.
The "Net" enables you to communicate with others near
and far on a daily basis without even leaving your home. It provides
opportunities to meet people with common interests who you might
not find locally, particularly if you live in an isolated area.
The Internet can help you expand your world.
Online groups can be tremendously fun and beneficial, and
many kinds are available. You can engage in conversation about
common interests at your convenience and find kindred spirits
far from home. You can form professional alliances or keep in
touch with family and friends. You can form new friendships and,
in some cases, romances. If you're busy or housebound, you can
meet people and have social contact that might otherwise be difficult
or impossible. Cybergroups offer wonderful opportunities for
creating community beyond your geographic neighborhood.
But online groups also have their down side. While your group
may start off with good intentions, it's easy for the conversation
to devolve to the online equivalent of small talk. That may be
fine if your purpose is purely social, but if not, online conversation
can become a distraction (and in some cases an addiction), rather
than serving you. Also, people in cyber-communities, as elsewhere,
have their own opinions, preferences and motives. Arguments and
fights can erupt, and the attacks can be just as painful as they
are in person. Public forums in particular are prey to rabblerousers
who just want to stir things up. Being aware of these possibilities
is a good precaution when joining or forming a community or support
group.
To help you get the most benefit from your online communities
and avoid some of the pitfalls, I would like to offer a few tips
from my own experience:
~ Have a common focus or interest. It can be artistic, professional,
spiritual, a health issue, a hobby, your children, something
you love and enjoy, something you're curious about. As a writer,
you may have trouble finding enough local people who work in
your genre to form a support group, but with the Internet, you
have access to the entire English-speaking world, along with
any other languages you may speak. And being exposed to the views
of people outside your usual sphere can offer you new insights
and understanding. If you're dealing with a health issue, the
information available through some of the newsgroups can literally
be life-saving. And sharing tips, resources, encouragement and
feedback about your work or hobby can be useful and fun.
~ Have a leader or moderator, at least at first. While decisions
about group activities may be made democratically by the group
as a whole, having someone who's willing to stimulate conversation
can be important in the beginning in getting the momentum going
and sustaining it until the community takes on a life of its
own. The leader may be the person who initiates the group, someone
chosen by the group, or someone who emerges naturally. Eventually,
as the group members become acquainted and find their "level,"
the job of the leader may dwindle or disappear.
~ Have some ground rules, spoken or unspoken.
* Define the scope and intent of the group. Some groups have
a very social outlook, where all types of conversation are acceptable,
while others prefer to stay focused on the common topic. Holding
the focus may fall to any group member who spots a detour or
to a group leader, depending on how the group is structured.
* Decide whether you want a private group, by invitation only,
or a public forum or newsgroup. If the group is public, be sure
that new members are informed of the parameters and ground rules.
* Even in the nicest of groups, some conflict is bound to
arise. Set an example of the type of behavior that's expected
and how you would like conflict to be handled. Make some decisions
about how far you're willing to let a fight go before the leader
is to intervene. If it's your own group, create rules that will
shape the group the way you want it. If it's a peer group, create
the rules together so that each member of the group feels that
their preferences have been heard, even if the majority of the
group ultimately chooses differently.
~ Get to know the individuals in the group, or at least some,
if the group is large. The people you meet online may be very
different from the people you ordinarily choose as friends. Be
open to the differences and benefit from the diversity. Also,
people's online personas tend to reflect only a part of who they
are, often very different from their personalities when you meet
them, and getting to know the members in more personal ways can
ease and deepen communication. (Online communications are notorious
for being misunderstood, as you don't have the advantage of vocal
inflection or body language in interpreting them.) Phone conversations
are a great way to connect more closely with individuals you
feel particularly drawn to. If possible, meet in person on occasion,
either one-on-one or in groups. Good places to get together include
a common-interest conference, an artists' retreat, a concert,
a workshop or a museum exhibit. Plan some activities to hold
the focus, but leave time just to get to know each other.
~ Be tolerant of the various personalities in the group and
their personal preferences for the group. Some people like getting
a lot of mail; others prefer limited amounts. (Some groups offer
a "digest" version, with an entire day's mail collected
into a single e-mail.) Some love long, in-depth posts, while
others like short, succinct ones. Some prefer to let the conversation
wander and have fun playing together, while others are adamant
about staying on topic. Be willing to compromise and allow the
group to find its level. This may mean that some will read every
post, while others will weed through and delete the ones that
don't interest them. Some will participate daily, while others
will drop by occasionally or "lurk" (read without posting).
Find a way to manage your participation so that it serves you
without trying to force the group to adapt your needs.
~ Give the group time to grow. In the beginning, as you're
getting to know each other, you may have little to say (which
is why a leader is helpful). But as you get acquainted, you'll
be sharing more about your common interest along with other,
possibly more personal arenas. And be prepared for the number
of messages to ebb and flow. It's natural to have periods of
spirited conversation followed by periods of relative quiet.
Likewise, allow the group to evolve and change as the individuals
and relationships within the group grow and change.
There are many opportunities to join or form support groups
and communities using your Internet connection and e-mail. A
site like Yahoo Groups (groups.yahoo.com)
or Topica (www.topica.com) has hundreds of ongoing special interest groups. Many sites dedicated
to a particular subject or teacher have bulletin boards where
you can share information with like-minded people. (Find these
using search engines or through the teacher's office.) Online
services such as Compuserve and America Online have special interest
forums on numerous topics. It's not uncommon to meet one or more
individuals that you "click" with and form a relationship
outside the group, perhaps a private group of your own.
So what are the logistics of joining or creating a group?
There are several options:
~ Public bulletin board. Yahoo Groups and Topica offer space to start your
own special-interest group, or you can join an existing group.
Compuserve and America Online also have a number of ongoing forums,
and there are opportunities to form a subgroup dedicated to a
particular focus within a forum.
~ Private bulletin board on your own web site. Ask your webmaster
or Internet service provider what would be required.
~ Group e-mail. If you already have a group or are splitting
off from a public group, the simplest way is to set up a "Group"
in your e-mail address book and mass-mail your posts to everyone
in the group.
~ Newsgroups. Visit sites such as All the Newsgroups (AllTheNewsgroups.com/)
or Catalist (www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html) to find
a newsgroup appropriate for you.
Online groups can be immensely beneficial and gratifying and
offer you opportunities beyond your current horizon. Use your
knowledge and experience with social groups and interaction and
add to it the special parameters of meeting online to make your
group the satisfying and worthwhile experience it can be!
Top
Creative
Tip
Technology has expanded so vastly and rapidly in the last
few years that it's impossible for each of us to keep up with
it on our own. So don't try. If you have (or can acquire) the
artistic, computer and writing skills required to create your
own web site, great! But if not, don't sell yourself short by
presenting yourself and your work in a less-than-adequate setting.
Hire someone to create, design and/or write your web site and
contribute the parts that you can do well.
Wise
Words
"All of you have skills; if you hone them through training
and practice and then gain access to these ontological depths,
your creativity can rise exponentially. If in addition to this,
you also do your human homework, then you become more than a
creative, interesting person; you become a moral force for good."
~ Jean Houston, Sacred Psychology
"Science does not know its debt to imagination."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Top
Bookshelf
(click on the book graphic to see a
description at Amazon.com)
 Arts and the Internet:
A Guide to the Revolution . . . V. A. Shiva
Writing.com: Creative
Internet Strategies to Advance Your Writing Career . . .
Moira Anderson Allen
The Writer's Internet
Handbook . . . Timothy K. Maloy
The Photographer's Internet
Handbook . . . Joe Farace
The Internet Research
Guide, Revised Edition . . . Timothy K. Maloy
The Internet Publicity
Guide: How to Maximize Your Marketing and Promotion in Cyberspace
. . . V. A. Shiva
Communities in Cyberspace
. . . Marc A. Smith, Peter Kollock, Ian Heywood, editors
How to Program A Virtual
Community . . . Michael Powers
Cyberville: Clicks,
Culture, Creation of an Online Town . . . Stacy Horn
Top
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© 1999 Sharon Good. All rights reserved.
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