Time Based, Mutimodal, Temporality Transient Narratives

The narrative in Web 2.0 and the hypertext age can be transient, fleeting, never ending, repetitive and confusing. "Reading' Twelve Blue www.eastgate.com/TwelveBlue/, Judy Malloy's LOveOne and Slipping Glimpse by Stephanie Strickland & Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo were all different experiences. Yes I was reading text but I was also viewing images and choosing where to take the story. Sometimes I could choose a link to move forwards in the story (choices provided by the author) and names of characters were often the same, providing a semblance of linearity in story progression.  These narratives were colections of thoughts, memories, poetry, visual images, sometimes never ending. I always got to choose and exit when I had enough of the experience. It doesn't feel like reading, it appears to me that the new narrative has in some instances taken on some of the computerized gaming aspects such as a Second Life. In other instances it seems to be art and not a narrative, but a juxtopostion of images perhaps tied together with words. I did get to one narrative where the links weren't working - nothing happened. As I was 'clicking' around looking for the 'link', it reminded me of buying toys for a child for Christmas. You pick up a toy or Teddy Bear and start poking at it , wanting to know what it does. Does it talk, walk, sing etc. It can't be only what it appears. So are we losing our own imaginations and letting ourselves be entertained in the new narrative. Does it really allow for abstract collection of thoughts and the ability for us to choose where we want a story to go? Does it motivate co-creation and imagination or is it another way of providing fast, in the here and now of the new fast paced world we live in.