Hypertext—Freedom?

Hypertext—Freedom?
Online writing seems to give us so much freedom to communicate in different genres and to different groups of people. I donot see how the emergence of hypertext can suggest the end of the print. I never think print can be replaced by digital media. People not only feel differently when reading online compared with reading printed books, but also have different expectations to them. This explains why an online source (unless in online journals or academic databases) is usually considered invalid by many instructors.

Does hypertext offer us more space to write? Seemingly yes. People blog, ejournal, create online albums and e-portofolios to chat and/or to market themselves. Hypertext appears to provide us easy opportunities to get our thoughts published and recognized. However, I would rather think of it as a web instead of a space. To me space suggests liberty, ease and comfort. But in this typertext world, I feel more like being controlled instead of controlling though I really enjoy the fun that technology has brought me. People publish their thoughts online and have showed great enthusiasm to link and be linked to different sites. If I read online, I can easily be brought to different pages. I am more confused than relaxed since many times I ask myself why I am there reading that irrelevant page? For many times, those contradictory online reports puzzle me since I donot know which might be true. Of course I need to be judge on my own. But unlike print sources which have been peer-reviewed many times for its credibility, online texts make me wonder what on earth might be t he truth. Therefore, such seeming freedom actually presses the public to decide on their own and be responsible for the consequences if there are. Then are not human beings like spiders spinning so hard but can never be freed from the web they weaved? This web can work as their weapon to get food, but also mess up their little world.