For the first time, the world is truly at your fingertips. From your computer, you can tap into the resources of powerful computers anywhere on the globe, search through the world’s best libraries, and visit the world’s most amazing museums. You can watch videos, listen to music, and shop for almost anything you can imagine. You find information about any topic, set up teleconferencing, and send and receive messages from people on the other side of the planet. You can do all of this by tapping into the largest computer network in the world – the world wide web (www). Today, more than two decades after the beginning of the first networks that grew into the www, it is still primarily a communication medium. People write to express thoughts and feelings, communicate. Millions of people from all over the world share their thoughts, hopes, work, news, and comments about current events on the network of computers that make up the www. Search engines, electronic mail, and group chat lines are www tools that have enhanced the writing ability of many people.

Search engines have organized the vast amount of information available to the user into a huge index. The user simply types in a keyword or topic, and the search engine does the work of searching the index. It then displays a list of the results of the search, ranking each “hit” by the likelihood that it contains the information requested. It figures out the ranking by examining the title of the site found, the header information in the site, and the words on the site in a fraction of the time it would take the user to drive to the local library. The user may browse through the results and double-click on the site that looks the most interesting or useful. The user is automatically sent to that web site. When the user wants to return to the list of search results, they simply click on the back icon at the top of the screen. Now, the user can choose another source of information from the list. It may be helpful to envision the www network like a road map. Just follow the signs, and to get back to where you came from, go back the way you came. Search engines are a way of transportation for the “Information Highway”. Search engines enable writers to acquire enormous amount of knowledge on a subject with minimal effort. Search engines produce wiser writers, thus, resulting in better, more reliable, written products.

Electronic mail, or email, may be the most heavily used form of writing used on the www. Email allows the user to send and receive messages in much the same way as the post office . Of course the post office delivers mail to your house address, while email delivers messages to your Internet address. The major benefit is the time it saves. To use the postal system, you have to write a letter, put it in an envelope, address and stamp the envelope, and take it to an outgoing mailbox. Then, it might take a week before it’s delivered! That is why users call the postal system “snail mail”. With email, a person can type an electronic letter on the computer screen and send it to another person who is connected instantly, even if that person lives on the other side of the Earth. Also, pictures, videos, and sounds can be sent in order to enhance the message. Email is a great way to keep up with far off relatives and friends, or share important information that requires immediate attention with co-workers and colleagues. “White page” directories on the www enable you to look up people’s email addresses easily. Millions of people who could have telephoned, sit down to express themselves or share information in the form of writing, due to email. Also, because of the relative starkness of electronic characters and the difficulty of taking them back, a drift toward better and clearer writing in email messages has been noticed. Message writers often feel that each word counts in email because of the absence of context or tone. The words have to be more carefully chosen and context more explicitly spelled out. Therefore, email has contributed to a world of people who write more often and take more care in being aware of word choices.

One of the most immediate ways to communicate with others via the WWW is to participate in live “chat”. “Chatting” refers holding keyboard “conversations” with other people connected. You can hold chats with many people simultaneously all over the world. When you join a channel, group discussion, you can see what other people on the channel type on their keyboards. In turn, everyone in the channel can see whatever you type on your keyboard. You can also hold individual side conversations with someone.

Chat lines and email mailing lists connect people who are interested in the same topic. When one person sends an email to the mailing list, that message is automatically sent to everyone on the list. You can meet others and talk to them on a regular basis about shared interests, hobbies, or professions. To get onto a mailing list, you send an email note to the mailing list administrator and include your email address. Chat lines and mailing lists enable writers to find informative and knowledgeable people in any area.

Search engines, email, and chat lines are three tools of the www that have enhanced the writing abilities of many people. Since all of these tasks can be accomplished from the user’s personal computer, a search, e-mail, or group discussion allows writers to research and share information on any topic at their convenience, with a diverse group of people around the world, and in an incredibly short amount of time. For these reasons, the www has had a positive affect on writing, encouraging people to write better more often.