While hypertext does not change the physical words on the page, it does impact the order in which they are read. This allows for an infinite number of reader interpretations, since the proximity of any two text excerpts will create an automatic association. In an ideal model, hypertext will use trails to create natural links…
I was first introduced to hypertext when scrolling through countless Wikipedia sites (of course), one after another until giving up because the topic was no longer interesting. However, I also remember coming across hypertext in a book I was reading in middle school. I was reading Fearless by Francine Pascal, my favorite book to this…
In this post I will be using TV Tropes as a case study of the benefits and drawbacks of hypertext. “Nelson first published the term ‘‘hypertext’’ in his 1965 paper, ‘‘A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing and the Indeterminate,’’ where he describes a type of computer-supported writing system that would allow for branching,…
How does your writing change when you write for algorithms? Have you ever seen an algorithm go wrong, and if so how was it handled by the people in charge of the algorithm? How did the people who use that algorithm react? Like many others, my main interaction with algorithms is through social media. I…
In the article, Writing for Algorithmic Audiences, John Gallagher writes, “social media companies use algorithms to structure what users see in their newsfeeds. Algorithms frequently order and circulate web-writing, such as what stories are “trending” on various social media platforms. Alternatively, the online retail giant Amazon uses an algorithm to determine what products to show…
As most other people have mentioned in their blog posts, I frequently encounter algorithms in the context of social media, Google search results, and online shopping. I never really thought about algorithms and how they affect my online experience until I discussed them in a class, in the context of the 2016 presidential election and…
Much like my fellow classmates I only experienced algorithmic audiences through social media. When I hear the word algorithmic I think of algorithm which then leads me to thinking about how terrible the current youtube algorithm is. Right now the youtube algorithm is dubbed as the “adpocalypse”. I found out by reading this post that…
Overall, I think my view of algorithms as audience has been negative in the past. I definitely agree with Ashleigh that it can be frustrating to change your writing to appeal to the algorithms that will ultimately help your real audience find your work, and I think it can be frustrating to be the one…
Much like Jade, the only experience that I know I’ve had with algorithms is through social media, specifically Instagram and the way it organizes it’s timeline. As Jade mentioned in her article, it’s not necessarily the greatest. Even though these algorithms can have negative views in the eyes of the audience, they are very helpful…
My sister has a food blog and an Instagram related to it that I thought of as I read this article. I don’t use Instagram regularly, or check any blogs other than hers—neither do my parents, who were, when they first looked at the Instagram she set up for them to follow her and like all…