Reader Control over the Information

Hypertext forces the author to relinquish control over determining the the order the user encounters the information in the document; where they begin, where they end. The author relinquishes control over even the borders of the document, as the user can extend the document by linking other works, including their own to it, recontextualizing the information within. As Landow pointed out, hypertext blurs the roles of author and reader.

This is a good thing, for it takings reading to a creative level, to a higher level of interactivity. However it is a struggle for authors to reliquish control, for the centuries of intellectual domination by the print paradigm have bred a subconscious attitude of intellectual possessiveness and arrogance towards our literary output. We blind ourselves to the fact that none of our work is truely origional-- that we constantly, consciously and unconsciously, repurpose and recontextualize the works and ideas of others.

We need to free ourselve from these attitudes, and develope a more collaborative, communal appoach to knowledge creation, and let go of our work, let it grow and evolve. We can facilitate that by making our site adaptive.


WEB Paradigm Why. Media Theory. History and Prehistory Print Paradigm.
Multimedia Paradigm. Hypertext Paradigm. Docuverse Paradigm. Interactive Paradigm. Conclusions