The "new" storytelling

These days, people are taking advantage of accessibility of interactive tools to expand upon narrative techniques of old. Paradoxically, politics were the primary driver for this revolution - polls are used to determine anything and everything from how "hot" a presidential candidate is to how popular a certain policy will be before even risking one's political hide on what may turn out to be an unpopular decision. Big business followed closely behind, making the tools and the analytics ever more sophisticated in trying to gauge just what exactly this customer may "want" (forget "need", that's a whole other can of worms) to buy.

In today's world of hyper-sensitivity to user feedback, perhaps it was only a question when this technique was going to penetrate the traditional methods of storytelling. Well, it's happened, and it may be more significant in this area then in all the areas that preceeded it, simply because you're creating a narrative that is for the first time truly a dialogue. This is not about social media, or being able to give your favorite writer or comic book artist feedback on their latest creation via their blog. These are new methods, involving new media, that at their best give the user an opportunity to truly and permanently impact the development of the narrative itself.

There are many examples.... Stories that are done as linear movie clips on YouTube. Web comics that include "choose your own story" model (remember those books?) to customize the user experience. Non-linear storylines where the user can follow a character or a segment of the story and cut thru the parts they don't relate to as much. Complex projects that include wiki materials that can be easily accessed by clicking on a button - and not losing the flow of the narrative. And so on, new ideas are happening as these very words are being written.

At worst, these can be distractions in what used to be a pretty straightforward medium. At best, they create immersive experiences which Web 2.0 has become all about. There are so many routes open, but in the end the old rule still holds true - when in doubt, just do it.