Networked narrative

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A networked narrative is a conversation over time and space, inherently multilinear, that holds a specific set of values, or rules at its core. It is not driven by the specificity of details; instead, details emerge through a co-construction of the ‘story’ by various participants.

The role of the ‘author’ in networked narrative is akin to the role of a good parent – they author’s voice isn’t deterministic, but encourages exploration and instills a sense of right or wrong in the participants. The author’s voice is different from that of a parent in that it is transparent.

The participant, exploring the networked narrative environment, will have been made aware of the rules, or values of it – the “right or wrong”. With these as guidelines, they make choices at each interaction point with measurable consequences – their actions affect their environment and vice versa. They can choose to support or subvert the rules or values. Over time, the body of participants has the power to change the rules or values of the environment, further obfuscating the identity of ‘author’.

Networked Narratives adhere to Janet Murray’s 3 qualities – spatial, programmed/procedural, and encyclopedic - and 3 pleasures – immersion, agency, transformation - of interactive environments.

It has been suggested that any networked narrative environment would house multiple subcultures.

[edit] Example

http://www.livejournal.com
Run by a blogging company called Six Apart, it provides users with a hosted blogging space. People are linked together primarily by ‘friends’ lists and ‘friend-of’ lists, secondarily by interests, and tertiary connections are formed by direct links to people’s posts.

There are a set of unwritten rules that govern people’s interactions in livejournal-land that echo Intellectual Property concerns (do not steal other people’s written work without permission), and general CMC manners (do not flame). There are also some procedural constraints, such as the format of posts, and procedural agency, such as choosing what to display and how to dress it up.

There are smaller communities, some of which are devoted entirely to flaming and demeaning members and non-members, but the majority focus on special interests like photography, MMoRPG Games, music genres, etc. The smaller the group of people that you look at is on livejournal, the tighter the fabric of the network narrative is and the more established and fleshed out it’s environment and rules/values is.