Network Stories

To Do This Week

Read / Explore:

• The Lives of Agents (ongoing) — collaborative, networked narrative experiments
• Instagram (or any platform feed) — look closely at how stories form through posts, comments, replies, and algorithms
• Internet Archive — browse a topic you care about and notice how “archives” shape story

Journal:

Network stories don’t live in one place. They unfold across feeds, threads, comment chains, reposts, captions, tags, playlists, and shared documents. Sometimes they’re collaborative on purpose. Sometimes they “happen” accidentally when many people contribute fragments over time.

Choose one networked story situation to study this week: a platform feed, a group chat or thread, a fandom/wiki, a collaborative doc, a meme chain, or a multi-platform story you follow (or invent). Journal about how meaning emerges through distribution. Where does the story “live”? Who is the narrator—an author, a crowd, an algorithm, a platform? What role do sequence, repetition, remix, and metadata (hashtags, links, timestamps, usernames) play? What gets lost or gained when story is no longer contained in one work?

In Class

• Discuss: What is a “network story” and how is it different from a linear story?
• Look at examples of distributed narratives: feeds, threads, collaborative worlds, ARG-like structures
• Workshop: build a micro network story in small groups
• Begin planning: how your final project could incorporate network structure (optional)

Notes

Key Ideas

• Distribution: story fragments spread across posts, platforms, and time
• Seriality: story emerges through episodes, updates, and recurring motifs
• Remix: reposting, quoting, stitching, duets, screenshots, edits
• Paratext: captions, comments, likes, tags, metadata, usernames, timestamps
• Collaboration: multiple authors, shared prompts, “yes-and” world-building
• Algorithmic framing: what is shown, in what order, to whom, and when
• Documentation as narrative: logs, receipts, archives, evidence, screenshots

Story Structures in Networks

• Thread / chain: one post triggers replies that become the story
• Feed mosaic: meaning emerges by scrolling and comparing fragments
• Cross-platform trail: links jump between sites, documents, and media
• Collaborative world: shared setting and rules; many contributors add scenes
• ARG-ish logic: puzzles, clues, hidden files, “found” media, fake archives

Questions to Ask

• What counts as an “event” in a network story?
• What is the unit of meaning: a post, a comment, a tag, an image, a link?
• How does the platform interface shape pacing and suspense?
• Where does “closure” happen—if it happens at all?
• How do repetition and remix create coherence?
• What does the network allow that a single page/film cannot?

In-Class Activity: Micro Network Story

1. Form groups of 3–4. Choose a shared story-world premise in one sentence (a place, situation, or mood is enough).
2. Decide on a “platform logic” for your story: a feed of posts, a thread of replies, a set of linked pages, a shared folder of “evidence,” or a chat log.
3. Create 9–12 fragments total (each person makes 2–4): images, captions, short text posts, fake screenshots, audio notes, or links.
4. Arrange them into a readable sequence or navigable structure. Make sure there is a tension, question, or transformation across fragments.
5. Share with the class and discuss: What made it feel like a story? What remained unclear?

Optional Mini-Assignment

If you want to prototype for your final project: create a “network packet” of your story world: 6 fragments (images, text posts, captions, audio, or links) that suggest character, setting, and conflict. Post them in a blog post with a short reflection on what the network form adds to your story.