Essay Example on Technology Transforms Literature: Six-Word Stories to Crowdsourced Fiction

Technological advancement and modernity have brought about massive changes in human life. Every aspect of human life has experienced the impact of changes in technology. In the realm of literature, the effect of technology and modernity are eminent in the six words stories, flash stories, and crowdsourced fiction. Additionally, technology has created possibilities for authors to develop and produce content in digital forms that can reach a broader audience in the shortest time possible. With this in mind, technology and modernity have both positive and negative impacts on literature. Therefore, the paper examines these impacts through the six words stories, flash stories, and crowdsourced fiction, and the benefits that these forms bring in literature.

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The six-words stories are the complete narratives organized in only six words. The stories date back to the time before the digital era through the works of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway argued that he could develop a complete story adhering to all the elements of literature in only six words (Hemingway 110). One of his notable six-words stories is the “for sale: baby shoes, never worn” story (Hemingway 19). Today, the six words stories are an essential part of literature. Digital technology and modernity are central in the development of the six-words stories. Educators today use images and short videos of not more than a minute run-time as an inspiration for children to develop short stories (Bradfield 30). Additionally, changes in technology make the design, organization, creation, and sharing of the six-words story easier.

The flash stories or fictions are short forms of literary pieces. They tend to be more concise than short stories, which can cover several pages. Just like the six-words stories, the flash stories aim at engaging the readers in the shortest time possible. Changes in technology have led to the massive use of flash stories in literature. Crowdsourcing and compressions are the vital tools used in the development of the six-words stories and the flash fictions. However, crowdsourcing also is essential in the development of crowdsourced fictions. Technology and modernity are central to the development of these short stories. Technology, through the development of devices such as iPads, TV sets, computers, laptops, tablets, and the internet, in general, has changed the reading habits, sharing of literature works and the way people view literature (Luckhurst). In the past, people focused on reading hard copies of novels and short stories. However, the changes in technology and modernization have shifted the reading culture. People access written literature through available soft copy books.

Technological advancement in literature and, more especially, through the six words stories, flash stories, and crowdsourced fiction, is beneficial in numerous ways. First, technology makes the sharing of these forms of literature easier and fast. Technology through social media provides content creators with a broader audience. Secondly, the creation of these forms of literature is an easy courtesy of technology. Content creators today have extensive research tools provided by the internet. Thirdly, technology, and modernization has increased the use of these forms of literature. Today, these forms of literature are incorporated with other works such as infographics, photo captioning, and advertising.

Besides these forms of literature, technology has impacted literature through the development of the audio-visual forms of literature. Technology has introduced the audiobooks where readers have transformed to listeners. The only need audio devices such as the iPads to listen to the audiobooks as they perform other activities. Most of the traditional forms of literature have shifted to the televised forms creating the common televised series (Kuzmicová 85).

Conclusion

Conclusively, modernization, and technological advancement have changed the literature world. The use of the six words stories, flash stories, and crowdsourced fiction in conjunction with digital media is one of the most significant impacts of technology on literature. Moreover, modernization and changes in technology have transformed the reading culture where people today use the audiobooks to replace the traditional novels.

Works Cited

Bradfield, Kylie. "National Literacy and Numeracy Week-Teachers' notes for" Six-Word Australian Stories" for Secondary Years." (2016).

Hemingway, Ernest. The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Hemingway Library Edition. Simon and Schuster, 2017.

Kuzmicová, Anezka. "Audiobooks and print narrative: similarities in text experience." Audionarratology: Interfaces of Sound and Narrative 52 (2016): 217.

Luckhurst, Roger. “Modern Literature and Technology.” 2016, https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/modern-literature-and-technology