Beginning with the basics

As in any field of study, you need a fundamental understanding of basic material in order to have a solid foundation upon which you can build. It's like learning a language - if you don't know grammar or spelling you might be able to speak, but you're going to struggle with writing and reading.

And equating Generation-Yers with native speakers of a foreign language might not be that far off. We've grown up with the Internet - we can chat, surf, blog, facebook, e-mail, do research, skype - you name it. But how many of us really know what 'http' stands for?

For me at least, these first few chapters have been a bombardment of information that sounds familiar and I half understand, but if forced to explain it in any detail to another person I'd be lost. That said, I'm beginning to realize the importance of knowing, for example, how to create a personal Web site. (And I'm not talking about just any blog, but actually building a Web site from scratch.)

I figure it's like getting your master's and then going to work for a newspaper. Sure, a bachelor's would've been sufficient, but it would've taken you years to get where you are now. If you enter the job market with a considerable knowledge of all things online, you're going to be way ahead of the next guy.

And while this stuff can only be learned by doing, getting acquainted with the grammar and spelling of online journalism first might just put us ahead of some native speakers one day...