Bismillahi..
Many authors might feel unprepared for publishing on the
Web. Literary journalists already
crossing the genres of literature and journalism, now are being asked to become
programmers. In Hamlet on the Holodek,
Janet Murray envisions a new kind of storyteller, “one that is half hacker,
half bard. She cites that each identity represents its
own version of creativity and meaning.
Those with creative aspects in both the literary and technical can find
opportunities abounding on the Web, but that does not disqualify the less
computer literate. There are tools
available to assist in development of Web spaces and there are also numerous
consultants and experts that can aid in design and development. I do feel, however, that it is critical that
the space be controlled by and reflect the author’s vision.
Access to the Internet has been growing steadily since
1995, as hardware becomes cheaper, connections are faster, and software becomes
more efficient. Approximately 101
million adults now use the Internet, according to a study by the Strategis
Group While there is still the issue of the digital
divide, those without the resources to own their own computer, obstacles to
access continue to be explored. New
technologies are being researched and our future might include news kiosks in
public places or small digital devices that will allow us to download entire
novels or libraries of novels.
Currently, the demographics of the Internet skew toward a more wealthy,
educated demographic, but recent studies by the Georgia Tech Graphic,
Visualization, and Usability Center indicate that in 1998 the general
demographics of the Web’s user population moved closer to the characteristics
of the general population for the first time. In using the example of the propagation of
television, it is not difficult to imagine a world in which everyone has access
to the Internet one day.
The greatest benefits of the Web to writers are in its
ease of publishing. With very limited
investment (most Internet Service Providers offer Web Space with their basic
accounts), it is quick and easy to develop a site that is accessible for
everyone with Internet access to read.
Getting them to your site is another story. Search engines can help drive traffic to your
site, but the influx of Web content has provided a glut of information that can
seem unmanageable. A writer will be
challenged to provide his content to a site where potential readers already
exist. The good news, however, is that
once a writer finds a home at a Web publication, there are fewer constraints on
space than in print. The number of
places online that are friendly to literary journalism will only continue to
outpace that of print publications.
Another challenge is in how readers use the Internet to
read. Online journalism has shied away
from including lengthy pieces on a screen that would require much scrolling on
the part of the user. User attention is
understood to be shorter in an online environment. The Web is in a stage of infancy now, or what
Murray calls “incunabula,” referencing the name given to materials produced
during the first 50 years after Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. New concepts and designs are in various
stages of experimentation. Creative
structures are already being developed on the Web to support lengthy pieces.
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