Human memory is a very fickle thing with distinct memories coming and going like aster fluff on the wind.
A friend online posts something funny, or touching, or sad and you remember the perfect quote from a book or an article or just something someone very wise once said. But are you remembering it correctly?
If there is one thing that social networking websites have taught authors it is that it is imperative to check and double check sources. A remembered quote might be useful in a flowing conversation but online, where what an author types just might be there long after they die, a single inaccuracy might undermine the author's point. The dawn of the internet has of course made this much easier; both for the author and any critical readers. Frequently when the author goes back and looks such diligence is rewarded. There was some critical difference in the reality and the memory that must be corrected. Maybe the quote is still as pertinent as before, maybe not, but the author's integrity is preserved.
A friend online posts something funny, or touching, or sad and you remember the perfect quote from a book or an article or just something someone very wise once said. But are you remembering it correctly?
If there is one thing that social networking websites have taught authors it is that it is imperative to check and double check sources. A remembered quote might be useful in a flowing conversation but online, where what an author types just might be there long after they die, a single inaccuracy might undermine the author's point. The dawn of the internet has of course made this much easier; both for the author and any critical readers. Frequently when the author goes back and looks such diligence is rewarded. There was some critical difference in the reality and the memory that must be corrected. Maybe the quote is still as pertinent as before, maybe not, but the author's integrity is preserved.
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