Gimme Your Two Cents... For Every Paragraph I Write

Perhaps one of the more interesting tidbits I picked up from this week’s Digital History readings, (beyond the content itself), was to notice the form and function of the webpage Christopher M. Kelty set up for his book, Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. His web pages are essentially broken down into three columns: The actual content of his book on the left, a comments overview that floats with the reader as they scroll down the page in the centre, and his book’s table of contents and a Browse Comments option on the right. I’ve never seen a website designed in quite the same way before, but I think it’s awesome and I think more people should do it.

Although I can appreciate that the parts of the web page combine to make a cohesive whole, it is the centre column, and how Kelty uses it, that I find of critical importance to his site’s success. Kelty has provided a tracking system for comments in the centre column that allows both the author and the reader to see at a glance what areas of the author’s writing are generating the most buzz or the greatest confusion. He does this by providing the means for his readers to comment on his writing on a per paragraph basis. This format not only offers a quick visual breakdown of activity on the site, but it also allows the readers and author to carry on an immediate dialogue about the pressing issues of his piece. By doing so, it engages the reader continually throughout the piece and works to stave off what I’ll call “reader exhaustion.”

This approach to web page design reminds me of our class’ discussion a few weeks ago surrounding the digitization efforts that have been going on that include the ability to cross reference different versions of a text and annotate them directly in front of you on the screen, essentially creating another version of the document with an entirely new meaning. It seems to me that Kelty is doing close to the same thing by using new technologies and design to reach out to his readership and involve them in the process of his thought creation and writing. Interesting.