Porter response

I like the narrative form of this essay. I wondered, however, if "the importance of social networks and personal help" (381) that Porter says contributed greatly to his writing development (the loss of which he somewhat laments) was merely a coincidence of the environment he found himself in at the time. For instance, we have all had classes/work situations where a communal atmosphere develops; then, we move into what we hope will be a similar situation, and it's not. This scenario may not make perfect sense, but I'm wondering if we have no choice but to move into a new way of "bonding," so to speak (computer mediated, of course). I guess I prefer to look at the up-side of Internet/computer-based writing, agreeing with his statement that "[Internet} writing [is] an action ...having a dramatic, even revolutionary impact on writing" (386). I did notice that his notes were rather "confessional," and perhaps ancillary to an academic article. This made me wonder if the academic writing genre is changing, slightly, to reflect our real life practices which include e-discourse. Maybe someone who knows much more about the academic writing style can comment on that. Thanks!