Ken Auletta, author of ”Googled: The End of the World As We Know It
Don’t Think of The Web as Another Distribution Platform:
In speeches, Michael Eisner likes to say that the Internet is just another distribution platform. He also says, as he did to me, “I don’t think a lot of the rules for storytelling are unique for the Internet.” I think he’s wrong. The Internet is a totally different medium. It is interactive, allowing not just two-way communication but also a stage for new story tellers. It is not one distribution channel but many thousands of them, each one a website on which stories might nest. There are no scarcity issues – sorry, we have only 21 hours a week of prime time to squeeze your program into; sorry, we have sold every 30-second spot in the Super Bowl. Because there are so many choices on the Web, and only a click away, Web stories will often be shorter, more like “snacks.” According to Scott Moore, who until late 2008 was Yahoo’s Senior Vice President and head of media, on the Web “people have shorter attention spans. We find the ideal length is one to three minutes.” The shorter time is partly a function, he said, of the fact that “prime time is daytime for us”; he means that people looking for diversions at work naturally jump around more. Also, on the Internet, users “expect to be in control,” and they like to roam. The ease of jumping around further attenuates attention spans, making the Internet a less hospitable medium for longer stories.
I completely agree that it’s not another distribution platform but I would put the emphasis on interaction more than breadth of choice and short attention spans. People have been talking about the birth of a new Hollywood with millions of independent video producers ever since YouTube struck it big. But if you’ve ever tried to create one of these Internet sensations you’ll quickly learn that it’s nearly impossible to tell a compelling story in just 30 seconds or even 3 minutes. Some commercials do a great job of this, but you don’t have to return to commercials every week for the next chapter – they’re pushed at you. On this point Michael Eisner was sort of right, “I don’t think a lot of the rules for storytelling are unique for the Internet.” To pull someone into a story you have to have them identify with the characters, that’s nearly impossible to do in 3 minutes on a consitent basis. Really less than 3 minutes just creams for stereotypical characters and situations.
Look at where film started, they would simply record vaudeville acts or trains coming at the audience. Eventually though they discovered continuity editing and created the modern movie. A modern movie format that is typically a 120 minutes long. Maybe the Web will shorten it to 100 minutes but not down to 3 or less.
What’s actually more interesting than the breadth and length of future entertainment is the interactivity. Auletta dives into it more when he talks about digital.
Digital is Different:
“When a product or industry goes digital, it changes fundamentally and irreversibly, ” Marc Andreessen said. Hardware becomes less important, software more so. “Because software is malleable in a way that hardware is not, it can be adopted worldwide and quickly.” Fewer resources or infrastructure are usually required. A digital newspaper, for instance, is not merely an extension of the print edition. It is a different product, and the software makes it so. Online news doesn’t have to wait for the next morning to appear. And it comes with links to other stories and even publications, to videos or audios that amplify the story. If a reader wants to dig down into a subject, digital archives are available. The function of the letters to the editor page is taken over by blogs, involving communities of readers and also compelling journalists to engage with the public.
The keywords for me are “It is a different product” and more so than just seeing news papers with comments, video, and archives. Where Auletta might see a drastic change from the traditional newspaper to online news site I see just one step in the evolution. Just as short videos on YouTube are an intermediary step to what will ultimately prove successful. Digital storytelling doesn’t mean digital distribution, it means interactive story. Video games experiment with interactive story every day and hopefully artists will stumble upon a technique that unlocks the medium for storytelling rather than relying solely on the game play for engagement. It would be paramount to the early film pioneers discovering continuity editing. It would be the birth of a new medium – interactive drama.
Maybe the slogan should be:
Interactive drama – because the Web isn’t just another distribution platform
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