Seven hypertexts
Seven hypertexts
What is Hypertext? It has been studied and explored for over 50 years but a complete definition seems ever more elusive. The term is invoked in multiple communities, and applied in radically different domains, but if we cannot reconcile the different perspectives then we will be unable to learn from our shared history, or from each other in the future. In this paper we argue that the longevity and variety of hypertext work makes a simple definition impractical. Instead we suggest different contexts in which hypertext work has been conducted, and then attempt to draw out the relationships and commonalities between them. We describe seven contexts drawn from the literature: Hypertext as a Tool for Thought, as Knowledge Representation, as Social Fabric, as Literature, as Games, as Infrastructure, and as Interface. We argue that these are connected by a common requirement for non-regularity, driven by post-structuralist philosophy, and enshrining existentialist values in our technology. It is the application of these ideas to different problems that gives rise to current Hypertext, as we see the same technical features, and engineering and creative challenges, manifest in otherwise quite different digital domains.
PKM, blogs, games, hyperfilm, hypermedia, hypertext, hypertext literature, infrastucture, interactive fiction, interface, knowledge bases, knowledge management, knowledge representation, linkbases, metadata, narrative, social networks, stretchtext, tools for thought
Association for Computing Machinery
Anderson, Mark W.R.
bd412046-e527-4199-83a3-69a87797f3cb
Millard, David E.
4f19bca5-80dc-4533-a101-89a5a0e3b372
5 September 2023
Anderson, Mark W.R.
bd412046-e527-4199-83a3-69a87797f3cb
Millard, David E.
4f19bca5-80dc-4533-a101-89a5a0e3b372
Anderson, Mark W.R. and Millard, David E.
(2023)
Seven hypertexts.
In Proceedings of 34th ACM Hypertext 2023.
Association for Computing Machinery.
15 pp
.
(doi:10.1145/3603163.3609048).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
What is Hypertext? It has been studied and explored for over 50 years but a complete definition seems ever more elusive. The term is invoked in multiple communities, and applied in radically different domains, but if we cannot reconcile the different perspectives then we will be unable to learn from our shared history, or from each other in the future. In this paper we argue that the longevity and variety of hypertext work makes a simple definition impractical. Instead we suggest different contexts in which hypertext work has been conducted, and then attempt to draw out the relationships and commonalities between them. We describe seven contexts drawn from the literature: Hypertext as a Tool for Thought, as Knowledge Representation, as Social Fabric, as Literature, as Games, as Infrastructure, and as Interface. We argue that these are connected by a common requirement for non-regularity, driven by post-structuralist philosophy, and enshrining existentialist values in our technology. It is the application of these ideas to different problems that gives rise to current Hypertext, as we see the same technical features, and engineering and creative challenges, manifest in otherwise quite different digital domains.
Text
HT_2023
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Published date: 5 September 2023
Additional Information:
Winner of the 2023 Engelbart Best Paper Award
Venue - Dates:
ACM Hypertext 2023: ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media, , Rome, Italy, 2023-09-04 - 2023-09-08
Keywords:
PKM, blogs, games, hyperfilm, hypermedia, hypertext, hypertext literature, infrastucture, interactive fiction, interface, knowledge bases, knowledge management, knowledge representation, linkbases, metadata, narrative, social networks, stretchtext, tools for thought
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 482482
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/482482
PURE UUID: e73bb99a-540f-4cc9-bed2-f8004c705a69
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Date deposited: 09 Oct 2023 16:41
Last modified: 27 Apr 2024 02:21
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Contributors
Author:
Mark W.R. Anderson
Author:
David E. Millard
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