The Online Literary Genre

I remember when this August 2004 Economist issue arrived at my family’s home. My brother was visiting from New York where he was at Columbia’s School of Journalism, and he and my father told me to remember the cover image because it represented the future of journalism. For some reason, the ransom note-inspired cover stuck in my memory and I have realized over and over that it speaks a truth still relevant today.

What has changed in journalism and other printed material since 2004?

The development of a new genre of literature. Regardless of one’s opinion about print vs. digital material, the reality is that digital media has become a genre all its own within the literary tradition complete with its own digital archive.

What makes online literature and journalism its own genre is complex, from the immediacy of publication and reception to the physical manifestation it takes on desktops, iPhones, and iPads. One notable characteristic of the genre is the new sense of time and space. Digital literary material is often shorter and is marked by straightforward diction and the use of imagery to invoke something in fewer words. The scale has also shifted within this new genre, with more information available in a shorter amount of time in a larger level of accessibility than print material. In this way, digital literary material facilitates transnational communication and the development of globalized online communities and discourse (see the Arab Spring).

Other aspects of the genre include the use of external links, which function as a type of digital embedded narrative in which there is a story within a story. An article’s external link amplifies the material in the original text, creating a cross-disciplinary frame within a frame. It also facilitates communication between writers and publications, creating an online community and forum.

Finally, the digital literary genre’s most notable quality: the digital soapbox. Online literature is often unmediated and is an available location for multiple voices as once. Our confession culture means that people often find self-authenticity through voice, and the internet is an immediately accessible publication space. Because of this, secret hobbies and quirks are transformed into public art forms and online forums, cultivating subcultures that transcend geographic and social boundaries. The digital soapbox is perhaps the most defining aspect of the digital literary genre that most characterizes the archive and distinguishes it from print material, providing a product unique to online materials.