Interactive Fiction, participatory culture and Transmedia Events - will we be left behind or late to the party

Interactive Fiction, participatory culture and Transmedia Events - will we be left behind or late to the party

The points brought out in this article - www.jokeandbiagio.com/indie-filmmakers-meet-interactive-fiction are really worth thinking about. It highlights how, in some ways, today is a very exciting time in media and also a very scary time. Things are changing, the world is changing, and a shift that began 10 years ago is really beginning to be felt.

We are living more and more, for better and for worse, in a participatory culture and people today want to not be passive consumers, they want to feel part of the experience. But is this a fad or something more, a true change?

And if there is a shift, will people be left behind? I remember playing "The Beast" or more accurately, trying to play. I found it frustrating and difficult as there always seemed to be someone there first, someone else was picked, someone else got to play, and I still was a passive observer. The down side to this rush to certain interactive and transmedia experiences is most of these events leave people behind.

There is this nasty two sided coin - the writers, creators, advertisers want lots of people to come and see and so on, but as you increase numbers, usually the event becomes a, well, Beast, and then people are left out, behind or become frustrated and turn away.

Then there is the difficulty of managing an event that has a "time". Sure you may be able to archive, but then, once again, you are a passive participant because you are late to the party. Even worse, how are these fictions and experiences being archived? Will we be able to keep up? Must we be constantly plugged in and tuned in to interact?

And, along the lines of the transmedia necessity rating I keep tinkering with, how much of the fiction/event/sources must we try and scoop up and experience to really "get" the story? Are we really ok if we don't participate? And what about the difference between a crossmedia product and a transmedia one?

And last - are we trading in certain types of stories in a rush to experience? Yes I separate the two because while you can argue everything is story (which I can go for) - there is a definite difference between a novel and an article and a forum board with people discussing a puzzle that reveals a little more about a universe. I like all of those, but how will they fit in this interactive culture?