If the social web makes "belonging to others" remarkably easy, that same web makes the web writer's work remarkably hard.

Bright side first: In less than 20 years, the static web became the social web, and the social web  became a constant support to people who want to indulge in the all-to-human art of making and sustaining social connections.

On the down side, the web writer's work moved quickly beyond what it had once been:

• crafting webpages
• crafting static webs from individual webpages, and
• using the web to present information to site visitors

In a very short time, web writers found themselves

• working with complicated content management systems, like Drupal
• developing socially motivated websites
• gearing up to work with the next and subsequent waves of ever-changing, increasingly difficult web-writing techologies.

So, if the whole web-writing thing has become so much more challenging, why do it?

A simple question to start things off: Why do it?