Two days ago during class, I asked if Wattpad’s function where readers can comment on individual paragraphs classified as “interactive.” My argument was that, since a comment can shift the way a reader perceives a paragraph, they are altering the content of the text, albeit not directly. The conclusion reached at the time was that it was a gray area. However, after reading J. D. Applen’s “Old Media, New Media, and Knowledge” (2013), section “New media and Literacy” (p. 7-12), I believe it doesn’t count as interactive. Applen (p. 11), quoting Lev Manovich, writes,
Manovich asserts that when we see an image, word, or sentence in a book, we bring our own unique associations to it. Our reactions to movies and books can be tangential and imaginative and the associations we make are built on a “logic” that is unique to ourselves. However, when we select an image or some underlined text in a hyperlinked environment, we are sent off to other places that others have decided we should go to and which are “pre-programmed” (61). We think we are making unique choices that reflect who we are as individuals, but this is illusory.
So, bringing our perspectives, ideas, and meanings to a text is not enough. This is because they’re typically moved aside to be “corrected” through links in the text. And, ultimately, we are not changing the content, thus cementing the situation as non-interactive. Fanfics (one of the main texts seen on Wattpad) typically don’t use links. They can, however, have author notes at the end of each chapter that include the author’s intentions and perspective. I would argue these notes behave similarly to links since they, too, align the reader’s thinking to the author’s. Then what about fanfics that don’t have author’s notes or answer their readers’ questions? Honestly, I’m not sure. While trying to resolve this question, my focus shifted to another one: Do fanfics count as new media?
Fanfics and the Criteria of New Media
Applen (2013) says that three aspects constitute Manovich’s criteria for new media: modularity, variability, and interactivity. I believe many fanfics satisfy all of them.
Starting with modularity, it can be argued the individual characters, world, and setting of a media are all modules. They are the building blocks that make up the bigger story. Fanfics function by taking and omitting some of these independent bits and pieces and building something new with them.
For example, a popular setting characters are put in is the coffee shop alternate universe. This means the characters of choice meet through a coffee shop in one way or another. Sometimes one of them is the barista, other times they’re both customers. So, the fundamental aspects of the characters (e.g., personality and preferences) remain unchanged, but their environment and personal style will differ. (By the latter I mean that if a character from a historical period is modernized, for instance, their outfits and such will be adjusted according to their preferences.) So, just like a module, the characters (or other such parts of a media) can be customized while still being themselves and swapped out according to the fanfic writer’s wish.
Applen (2013) points out that “Modular units can be combined and recombined to produce larger entities that are variable.” He continues, quoting Manovich: “it is never ‘fixed,’ but exists in ‘potentially infinite versions’ (36)” (p. 8). As we have seen, fanfics are the “larger entities” that result from the modules taken from a media. And while the products of this vary based on what modules are chosen, they are still fanfics.
Everything I have just described and covered is interactivity at work. The mixing and matching fanfic writers do with the original content of a media effectively alters it, fulfilling Manovich’s final requirement.
The Maker or Breaker
I have to admit, even I’m skeptical of my own conclusion. This is because Applen (2013)—and perhaps Manovich—does not address whether or not all these requirements must be enacted on the “original copy.” After all, fanfics are only able to fulfill the criteria by altering the original media in another writing space. So, is this just another gray area in the sea of new media, or a plot hole that went unnoticed?
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