FRAGMENTING READERSHIP
Ironically, with all these opportunities for the reader to
CONTROL THE ORDER and EXPLORE VARIOUS VOICES in hypertexts, readers
end up further away, rather than closer to these texts, and in some
ways each other. Since the infinite writing space cannot be fully
consumed, a computer-reader's mentality is geared toward extracting
the information specific to individual needs. This shifts focus of
writing from author-centered to reader-centered. People reading a
hypertext never have an overall shared experience. Players of MUDs,
unlike readers of a bound book, each have unique experiences.
The structure of community suggested by hypertexts is not one
valorizing and providing common, shared experiences, but celebrating
individuality and expressing very separate identities in a common
medium. No longer is the author lord of the text kingdom. In
hypertexts, readers are free and encouraged to read only what
interests them. Instead of appointing the author as a
representative to explore 'databases' of available information and
report back, readers now represent themselves in these vast
databases, compiling their own personal and unique books.
