Blog Post 6

I decided to view the digital story “Shy Boy” by the author Thomas Swiss. As I read the story I found that the music ever so slightly in the background and the color of the animated boxes changing as the text told me the story, I could feel the emotion of the shy boy. I felt that this story would always have to be digital in order to feel the emotion the words are telling. The author could of just put shy boy on print to read, but I personally do not think you would get the same feeling, and it could leave the story up to the readers interoperation. Hayles describes literature that is born digital as a “first generation digital object created on a computer and (usually) meant to be read on a computer” (1). This is so true for Shy Boy. I even think it could of started off as a text written story, then turned digital after, but once it went digital you could not go back to just reading it on paper. It would not have the same feeling. Digital stories such as Shy Boy that were born and designed digital can express much more emotion over just reading. The author is able to manipulate our emotions and make us feel the way they intended the story to be by adding music and lighting. These things cannot be done by analog text and requires the readers imagination to create the mood. Animation and music provide more depth to the story making it a more enjoyable experience for the reader.