Who am I kidding...

I'm sitting at my desk trying to outline a syllabus for high school creative writing. I keep trying to think of all the elements of creative writing that I loved when I was a sophomore, back in the dark ages before computers. I'm sifting through the syllabi of other teachers who have been kind enough to post their classes online and I realize that there is a massive emphasis on social media and the internet.

I don't really know how I feel about this focus on social media as creative writing. I'm an avid Facebook user, both personally and professionally, but can someone who writes posts and updates statuses on a daily basis be considered an accomplished writer? Does regular Twitter usage qualify someone as an author?

Furthermore, I've seen how my students write when they're using social media and while I understand that this is their "code", their chosen use of language, the English nerd in me is dying to correct them and teach them how to write like little miniature Hemingways. I don't want to let them slide with their "lol" and "FTW" posts because I know every one of them has a story to tell and I'm convinced it can't be told in 140 characters or less.

Does this make me sound old?
IDK.
LMK! ;P

xoxo
Poison