A lot of what was discussed in “Web 2.0 Storytelling” reminded me of what I learned about and implemented in Professor Whalen’s Transmedia Fiction class last fall. However, the discussion of these web-based formats for story telling in this reading seems more like the building blocks for transmedia or an alternate reality game.

In each form discussed, it considers how the uses of the website can be used to tell a story. The medium is vital to the story. It isn’t just a place to host it, but the format of it gives structure to the story, such as an epistolary novel being born again on a blog. I think this is an important factor when considering whether Scenes from The Wire and The Wire’s Facebook page is an example of the story telling discussed in this reading. I don’t think either website is using the website to tell a story; the website is just a place to store content and information. Tumblr is just a place to share gifs from The Wire. Facebook is a just a fan page. Those gifs would not change if they appeared on a blog or Facebook page or Reddit. The Facebook page wouldn’t be different if it appeared on a wiki or Reddit.

Web 2.0 Storytelling truly doesn’t come into play until the website used affects how the story is conveyed, interpreted, and experienced. If the retelling of Dracula on the blog was instead done one Facebook or Twitter, it would come across different, because the same content could not be expressed the same way and thus affects how the story is told. I think this is key to understanding what is storytelling, and what is merely a place for fans to commune about something they like.

Community is another important part of Web 2.0 Storytelling. For the first time, fans can interact with those telling the story and give feedback throughout the process of telling the story. In a similar fashion, comments in some cases can be incorporated into the story and thus the readers are playing a more active role than someone watching a TV show or reading a book could do.

While I do think this reading is a little bit outdated in understanding how different platforms on the internet can be used to tell stories, I think it does discuss a lot of interesting stories that have told through websites and the narrative prescribed by its structure and the function it serves.