I don't think that hypermedia has yet fulfilled its potential. Ever since the inception of the hyperlink, English graduate students have been talking about the coming demise (or de-emphasis) of the linear narrative structure. While it does seem that literature and film has largely gone this direction without much push from the Internet generation, I'm still looking for some online video project to do a reputable impression of that form with collaborative, user generated content. The heyday of YouTube has come and gone and still I haven't seen anyone take significant steps into cutting edge video experiments.

I started out thinking more about the possibilities of using choose-your-own adventure style hypermedia to teach people about social interaction issues – whether these be of the more cut and dry social psychological sorts or the tougher “smushy” identity I tried to run away from addressing too much in my own classes: race, class, gender, sexuality, etc. I remember some ridiculous “reel sociology” CDs that used to come with introductory sociology texts that publishers would send me to try and force my students into $120 textbooks. The “movies” on the disk cast viewers as a completely socially neutral figure (one size fits all) making sociologically-informed choices about interpersonal crisis in an archetypal college lifestyle they were already assumed to be familiar with from their respective institutions. Placing viewers in such a decontextualized identity role (that forms a very unbroken fourth wall) has its own set of problems I won't deal with at length here. Besides “Being John Malkovich”, they're haven't been many such instances of this “perspective strategy” seeming realistic. Moreover, the fact that one cannot usually be a dispassionate outsider in real life casts further doubt on this “applied” pedagogical strategy.

I'm not trying to say that an educational tool couldn't get this job done well... the folks who conceived this project just didn't know how to do it. It's a tough problem... one that I'm not sure I could handle. However, what's clear to me is that the end goal should not be a simulator for social interaction – it simply must get deeper than that. The concepts have to be cleverly situated in an entertaining narrative and viewers should really have to work to figure out what to do with them... it shouldn't all come down to choosing whether to side with the frat boys' heterosexism or try to understand (more likely simply tolerate) the homosexuals' perspective. In my mind, that's sort of key to the whole “multimedia” thing... it isn't just about mixing pictures and text.

The fundamental problem here is that there are two ways to go about this. The “reel sociology” folks chose the dualist “Let Us Teach You a Lesson” route: encouraging viewers to make the “right” choice. Thus, if you know the information we've given you, you'll know what actions (paths) to choose during the simulation in order to win i.e. get rewarded, look good to imagined audiences, not have the charge of ignorant bigotry leveled against you. You could pursue this strategy more effectively within the context of an economic simulation... such things have already been done at the video game level... think “Amusement Park Tycoon.”

The other way is through an open-ended narrative meant to help the viewer first explore existing material, interact with it in meaningful ways, and then apply the knowledge gained in their own voice. Think of it in terms of a nightclub pickup situation... despite what “Mystery” might have you believe, there are many ways to interpret people's behavior. Based on one's background attitude and behavior patterns as well as what they “see” in a scene, different interpretations and resulting actions. This second option is without a doubt more complex and harder to structure. However, that isn't to say that we should give up on possibility of finding appropriate parameters to guide such an activity. Think of it like the state-level controls over free markets.

Here's a non-overtly educational idea based in this model. The setting for it is place based because if you immediately get a get a good parameter: social geography. What this means is that there are no actual mapped boundaries, but there is framework established whereby activities must reference a place. The other major parameter is that the activity taking place must be based on actual events that have taken place in the chosen area. For this example, the place is Gainesville, FL. It seems unwise to set a parameter for time because this would excessively limit the structure of the narrative.

So, take something that recently happened in Gainesville – the “Don't tase me, bro” incident will work well to start from. Because the event was recorded with video and widely commented upon, there is a solid event to start from and an huge variety of ways to take stories from there. What was this kid's background, really? How will the university decide whether to sue him for defamation? Why did the police choose to tase him in the building instead of giving him some simple “stick time” outside. Etc, etc. Since many of these questions can be creatively answered (re-enacted) from different angles, the submissions could be varied. The best of these would receive the highest viewer ratings and be incorporated into the narrative.

However, if there are two equally plausible (realistic) and equally well liked re-enactments, the storyline could diverge parallel universe style, spawning divergent backstories as well. The only points in the narrative that must remain stable are the ones that were documented actual happenings in real life. This affects submissions in the yet unseen future of the event. If someone thinks the student will be expelled, they could produce a scene to that effect. However, if that does not actually come to pass, that offshoot will most likely die because it cannot square enough with reality to remain interesting. Thus, they must work to predict the future to at least some degree, which as any scientist will tell you, is the ultimate test of understanding. Thus, past and future submissions require different, but equally complex and interesting processes.

So, how is this educational? Well, it gets people more interested in events because they can speculate more concretely on them. It gives them a way to creatively participate in the media circus, not just watch it from afar. Also, by blurring fiction and reality in this way, it offers the chance to argue against or for different conceptualizations of what actually took place in “real” life, which is never as concrete as the people who usually only see it from one vantage point believe it to be. There are just many ways to interpret an event, its causation, and its implications. This gives people a chance to negotiate competing understandings through interactive multimedia. first level is to comment on a specific action and its outcome. The next is to actually think ahead and plan an action that will take the narrative on another path... and try to predict where it will go.

I believe this kind of thing will be happening in the very near future, thus adding another huge layer of complexity to our already highly mediated world. If you want to know how I got this idea started, take a look at this book, it's really smart.

I would be very content to sit around all day talking, thinking, and writing about ideas... that is, with a good amount of eating, physical activity, and media immersion thrown in for fuel. I am still working out how to best set myself up to do more of that key intellectual activity. I find that doing something any particular thing on a regular basis begets more doing of that thing as a habit, so long as the behavior isn't unpleasant... which this shouldn't be for me. So, instead of focusing on the particular medium of creation (essays, short stories, novels, presentations, lyrics) or the long term outlook for my projects, I'm searching for a intermediate mechanism to break work into consistent little parts.

I don't want to be productive for the sake of productivity. I want that good feeling at the end of the day that I get from knowing that I have been – rest in righteousness. Getting there requires self discipline and to my means to that end is transparency – making what I have done known to others - people I respect and want to be esteemed by. I need to find ways to use the tech tools available today to help hold myself accountable for getting things done every day. This is in effect “lifelogging”, but it doesn't necessitate cameras or a specific piece of pricey software. I have found a way to incorporate it inside my own website using some key (but free) web services.

The goal is to be able to display my daily activities more fully online. Sure, I could just start posting daily blogs with a list of things I've done in free text, but that isn't very pretty or manageable. Moreover, I want to keep my website structure mostly the same. Shoot, I want to keep my life structure mostly the same, even if I am more settled these days. Anyhow, I still can't think of a better way to go about an unstructured life than setting small daily goals for myself. I have approximately 16 waking hours in my day in which I should be able to get at least the following done:

Exercise
Revise an Essay
Think of One New Good Idea (and start an essay about it)
Write Something Substantial for my dissertation
Either Talk to A New Interesting Person or a schedule a time to talk with them
Write Some Lyrics
Call A Friend
Read One Academic Article
Find One Piece of Truly Interesting Media – article, show, movie, website
Listen New Musician
Eat Something Different

A task list like this something I've been pursuing for years. When someone asks me what I've done today, a quick look at this could offer some concise answers. I want people to at least threaten to ask me such things on a regular basis... that's my motivation. Sure, this is its own sort of repeat New Years resolution, but I think I can make myself accountable to it. It's all about me – no community service... very little here is contingent on others. Moreover, I think I might actually entertain some people enough with this daily production listing... to encourage them to keep following my activities on a somewhat regular basis – to “subscribe” to me if you will.

However, finding a tech solution way to make this happen wasn't as easy as I thought. I knew what tools were suitable, but I had to bring them together... so I did. What I worked out was a quasi-hack using the Google Calender, Remember the Milk, Twitter, and my website. I started by embedding my calender into my site and then adding in RTM's task listing functionality and hooking Twitter. The last service, if you haven't heard of it by now, is the leading microblogging solution, which allows me at any time to type a little message (SMS length) into my phone, email, or IM client and instantly post it online. One service feeds into another and another... all together at least four levels of data organizing. Thank goodness for the proliferation and of these innovative, free, and third-party friendly web tools. This was a tough problem turned easy... something straight out of a LifeHacker productivity playbook I never read. Now, the next step is to be able to export my days happenings back into Twitter for an unadulterated microblog read.

To see the end result, click on the Calender button above my faces.