Moderation in all things?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045494 |
| Pages | 372-373 |
| Published date | 01 April 1996 |
| Date | 01 April 1996 |
| Author | Peter Kruger |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Industry Musings
Moderation in all things?
Peter Kruger
Steinkrug Publications
Ltd,
20 Leaden
Hill,
Orwell,
Royston,
Herts.
SG8 5QH,UK
E-mail:
flames@flames.cityscape.co.uk
http://www.
gold.
net/flames/
Not a brave new
interactive
age
Interactive systems become difficult when everyone
starts
joining in
— this
is a
major problem as the whole point of interaction is participation on the part of the
user.
As with
many high tech
products,
interactive
systems
would work
a lot
better
if
there
were no real users. The Internet in general and the World Wide Web in
particular have created a vehicle for an array of
interactive
games, written works
and
plays,
all
of which
users or viewers
can either participate
in or contribute
to.
In
addition there are forums, newsgroups and chat rooms. A few years ago some
believed that
we were on the
threshold of a
brave new
interactive
age where
every-
thing
from
our
newspaper
to
our car would ask
us
what
we
wanted to
do or where
we wanted to go today. Networks would bring people together, enabling them to
pool ideas and resources
which would
then be
applied
to
a range of problems.
The reality
has
proved a disappoint-
ment.
Far
from
solving pressing
global
issues, forums have degenerated into
long drawn out, tedious and abusive
exchanges about trivia which, in the
real world, would hardly warrant a
mention. Collaborative artworks and
drama limp along without structure or
direction.
Signal-to-noise
Anyone who uses
the Internet
is
aware
of the difference,
in terms
of signal-to-
noise ratio, between moderated and
un-moderated forums or newsgroups.
No one really knows what the world
would be like if all the lunatics were
set
free
and the sane were
locked away
in asylums, but America Online pro-
vides us with some clues. While the
moderated forum is calmer and has a
clear
structure,
it can be a stale or dull
environment. The success of
a
forum
or newsgroup
depends
on the
modera-
tors
—
sometimes they will be too in-
trusive or dominant, in which case
there
is no real
progress
or
innovation;
on the
other hand they
may have so
lit-
tle input that the forum is no different
from
an
un-moderated
newsgroup.
An
un-moderated discussion group
should provide a lively and exciting
environment for
the
exchange and de-
velopment of ideas. Contributions
from people who are geographically
remote
from
each
other
should
provide
interesting new insights
into a
number
of
issues and
topics.
In
reality
most
In-
ternet forums are like parties at which
people are forever arriving and being
introduced to one another. Due to the
continual growth of the medium the
forums become filled with the sort of
small talk which occurs when people
are getting to know each other. There
is
a lot of talk
about
netiquette:
what is
more,
in the absence
of
body
language,
the small talk can become absurd and
violent as people try to provoke a re-
sponse
and
determine
how they should
relate to the
rest of
the
group.
Unfortu-
nately this gives rise
to
churn
—
users
become frustrated with the medium
and leave before any real issues are
discussed.
Difficulties which plague news-
groups and forums afflict other forms
of interactive media
such as
collabora-
tive fiction. The idea that a group of
people, working together, can create a
play
or
story on the
fly
is an
interesting
concept. In practice, given total free-
dom, the work quickly becomes
bogged down, losing both structure
and form. If an editor intervenes, and
rules restricting the freedom of con-
tributors
are
enforced, then there is lit-
tle to differentiate the work from con-
ventional media. A moderator
can,
of
course, be hidden within the plot as
one of the characters. The other play-
ers can be manipulated with the inten-
tion of
keeping the
story moving along
a predetermined path. This will both
maintain order and make the story
readable to others who may wish to
re-
main passive observers. Some of the
original Internet text-based games,
played
by
e-mail,
have now
acquired
a
degree of sophistication and, with a
combination of rules and moderator
input, are both compelling and enter-
taining.
Taking the
concept
to the
next
stage and
hiding
the
moderator and the
rules may prove a complex task
—
however, this is what is needed if the
medium is to appeal to a larger audi-
ence.
Let loose the robots
One
possible technique for controlling
interactive media is setting loose a
number of robotic entities within the
work.
There
are
already
stories
of
peo-
ple who have
been
fooled
into
thinking
pieces of AI software
are
other people
and who have even entered into a dia-
372 _The Electronic Library, Vol. 14, No. 4, August 1996
To continue reading
Request your trial