(2023-05-17) Peper A Note About Notes

Eliot Peper: A Note About Notes. Different mediums create conditions for particular kinds of media to thrive. The novel is a specific form that took hold after the invention of the printed book. What specific forms thrive on the internet? I’ll leave it to other digital naturalists to compile an exhaustive list, but I can present one for your consideration: notes.

Yes, notes, like the kind passed between middle school classmates. Notes are short. You’ve got to be able to fold them into a paper airplane you can throw to a friend

Notes are written for specific people, not for everyone. You write notes to friends, crushes, enemies, and frenemies, but never to some abstract “audience.” Often, the more specific your note, the farther it travels, because there are other people like your friend, crush, enemy, and frenemy on the internet, and they will feel like it was written just for them.

cf note-making, Thinking Out Loud, social media