Writing on the Web

Writing on the internet can be very different from writing on the web. For one thing, people are being bombarded with information when viewing webpages. Advertisements and additional links are usually covering the page, and it is the writer's job to help the reader filter the information to get only your message. Internet usually needs to be short and to the point since there are so many other distractions. It should always be written in an "inverse pyramind" method putting the most pertinent information in the first few lines so that you hold the reader's attention. When writing on the web it is easier to show background information and resources with additional hyperlinks that will take you straight to the source. You can also give readers links taking them to pages containing more information on any parts of your webpage they are interested in and want to learn more about. It's very important when writing on the web to secure readers' privacy and make sure that you have complete permission to recreate or publish text, photos, etc. that don't belong to you. The rules may be different but web pages will reach and impact many more people that writing on paper.