Hypertext theory

As mentioned previously, this semester has introduced me to a wide range of communication theories. However, one of them has captured my interest more than the others--hypertext theory.

Two important works of hypertext theory I've studied are George Landow's Hypertext 3.0 and Jay David Bolter's Writing Space. As you can see, in the previous sentence, I provided hyperlinks to both the author names and the book names. If you were to click on those links, you would be taken to an entirely different text, either the author's Wikipedia page or the book's Amazon page. Thus, when reading this blog post, you do not necessarily read in a linear fashion; instead, you may follow the other links, read some information there, and then return to this blog to finish your initial reading. This represents an entirely new way of consuming information.

From this example, we can more readily understand some of the basic qualities of hypertext that are integral to the tenets of hypertext theory. The theory posits that these qualities, such as fluidity and multiplicity, can be used as a model for the human condition itself. This new model contrasts with the more traditional, linear model associated with print technology and seemingly provides a better description of we function in this postmodern age.