So, what role HAS the internet played in the development of magic as an art? Well, for one thing, it has taken exposure to a whole new level. Youtube, Wikipedia, and personal websites make it easy to figure out almost any trick. But that’s not what I’m mainly writing this about. The main purpose of this is the connection that it has created for magicians; the way it has shaped the interaction within our hobby, or profession, for some of us.

For instance, most of us have no emotional connection to each other. Most of us won’t stay up at night because someone has insulted our video. But the lack of personal connection allows for a new bond; a bond created by the fact that we don’t need to hold back. The internet is home to magicians new and old, and has allowed us all to meet in locations to get help and give advice.

The internet, and technology as a whole, has made it easier for us to blow off advice given to us. If an elder confronted you face to face, you wouldn’t dare insult them or curse at them. But online, we are nothing more than mere screen names within a digital community. People lie about age, gender, location, and most of those are understandable. But many lie about SKILL, and that seems to be the problem that this essay is looking at.

I’ll be the first to admit that I can’t do the smoothest pass in the world. And you know what? My palming needs a lot of work too. How come it was so easy for me to do that? Too many people are convinced that because the advice they are getting is coming from ‘mere screen names within a digital community’, the advice isn’t worth taking, but it should be the exact opposite. We have nothing to hide. The chances of us meeting in the real world are slim, so why would people give ‘bad’ advice on purpose?

Enough with the negatives though, what about the positives? Well, we’ve certainly been given the opportunity to get professional help for no cost. I know that I wouldn’t go up to someone I saw performing their act on the street and ask for help, but the internet has allowed me to talk to several professionals on a personal level, and it has allowed me to improve by leaps and bounds. Instead of looking up addresses and phone numbers for contacting each other, we can use private messages and emails.
On a side note, please don’t try and market an effect without first looking into the originality of it? We are all given a brain and a body, so why is it so hard to believe that someone else may have come up with something before you? It is not hard at all to get in touch with magicians, as we are all just one big network, so why not put in a little effort? Remember, a little effort goes a long way.

By now you’ve probably noticed this essay doesn’t have a focal point, but it really does. The internet has given us so much when it comes to magic, and not many of us have used it to our full potential. Take every comment in stride, and listen to what others have to say. We are merely screen names in a digital community, so what the heck do we have to lie about?

Very good essay. I completely agree.

This is very true i have always tried to reply to questions to the best of my knowledge with out lying but that isnt good enough for somepeople i guess they think that their username means less than their own.