Rebooting Electronic Literature, Volume 4

Social Media Content for Mark Bernstein and Erin Sweeney's "The Election of 1912"

The following are postings on Twitter that promoted the live traversal of The Election of 1912 prior to the event and thanked the participants after the event. 
 

Twitter 

The Electronic Literature Lab used their Twitter account to post promotional content regarding the traversal of The Election of 1912.







































Instagram 

The Electronic Literature Lab used their Instagram account to post promotional content regarding the traversal of The Election of 1912.


YouTube Live Chat 

Because Traversals are all streamed live via YouTube, the lab takes advantage of the chat feature offered by the network to provide a forum for the audience to make comments and ask questions. The chat is then saved and added to this book as part of the Traversal archive.




Holly June
Hello everyone!

Wide Angle Studios
Hi

Richard Snyder
Hi all!

Holly June
Welcome, welcome!

Kathleen Zoller
Woohoooo!

Holly June
Audio levels are quite low.

Mariusz Pisarski
Hello everyone !

Holly June
Mark Bernstein is founder and Chief Scientist of Eastgate Systems, Inc.

Richard Snyder
Xanadu!

Mariusz Pisarski
The Election of 1912 was the first work published by Eastgate; its beta tester / reader was Ted Nelson, the author of Xanadu and the term "hypertext"

Richard Snyder
What a beta tester!

Mariusz Pisarski
Indeed!

Holly June
We are accessing the work today on a Macintosh SE, released in spring 1987. It is running System Software 6.0.7.


Holly June
Erin began began working with Mark editing reviews of technical manuscripts.

Holly June
At some point, he began working on Hypergate and tasked Erin with finding a presidential election that would lend itself to an interactive historical experience.

Mariusz Pisarski
Erin decided the 1912 as the most fascinating of all

Holly June
After completing work on The Election of 1912, Erin became heavily involved with horses, training, teaching, and striving for her own international aspirations in the dressage arena.

Kathleen Zoller
The ability to change history is a really intriguing concept! I suppose this idea really lends itself to multilinear games, where the users have enough agency to alter the course of the narrative

Richard Snyder
Yes! I was just about to say that the contingency emphasized by revisionist historiography is really enabled by hypertext.

Holly June
Yes, I'm intrigued by how essay-like this piece is, however the game element and they ability to change the course of the election really puts it in a different realm.

Kathleen Zoller
Oh, the "history" button is a very nice feature!


Richard Snyder
Yeah, it's in KIng of Space!

Mariusz Pisarski
We are witnessing the history of hypertext here as well: a) the breadcrumb element, b ) back button in their early forms

Holly June
How Mark was exploring navigation and the way users might interact with computers is very cool. So many interactions are native to us now, that were once completely unknown!

Richard Snyder
That's why I love looking at early hypertext, Holly. It's so fun to see the experimentation.

Kathleen Zoller
Mariusz yes, the extent that history can be changed in this hypertext is incredible! America could have been so different

Holly June
The lack of scroll is also a really interesting constraint. I believe Mariusz said he did find some lexia that scroll, but not many.

Mariusz Pisarski
Indeed, Kathleen. And 1987 was the fascinating time when games like Civilisation and hypertexts like Election 1912 shared the same semiotic spectrum: text, some illustrations and scripting.

Holly June
Readers will notice that all caps is often used. This is because there were limited ways to style typefaces in this system.

Kathleen Zoller
AND ALL-CAPS IS FUN TO USE

Richard Snyder
I love the framing of that telephone next to the lexia.


Holly June
Me too, Richard. The bitmapped images are lovely, too.

Kathleen Zoller
I love the telephone! I'm curious about why "secrecy" is labeled here as one of the perks. Is it just saying that no one else can drop in on the call?

Holly June
Or perhaps the audio wasn't so loud people near you could overhear?

Kathleen Zoller
The ads really do offer a window into the times. Those are a nice touch!

Holly June
Yeah, it really frames the perspective of society at the time well.

Holly June
The “control panel” where readers can change the course of history by managing the flow of information and activities relating to the election is a particularly interesting simulation.

Dimitri Myers
This is really neat. I really enjoy the historical context and the game elements that were used in this Hypertext. I wish there were more of these today :)

Kathleen Zoller
Dimitri maybe you can make one! Altering history is such an interesting concept

Kathleen Zoller
Yes, in Sucker in Spades! You can respond with Moxie, magnetism, etc

Holly June
Or MUSCLE.


Dimitri Myers
Indeed, maybe I can enlist some people from the program and design one that gives ET a run for its money. But featuring Dene and the program.

Kathleen Zoller
ET redeemed!

Holly June
The Election of 2020!

Kathleen Zoller
OOoooo

Kathleen Zoller
That would be interesting

Kathleen Zoller
"Lady Smoker Shocks Passengers"

Kathleen Zoller
I love that

Dimitri Myers
haha indeed!

Electronic Literature Lab
feel free to pose a question

Kathleen Zoller
I have a question about the map. Why illustrate the entire map of America when it only features the eastern states? What is this meant to emphasize?

Holly June
Erin, did the hypertext nature of the project influence what kind of information you collected in your research?


Richard Snyder
I'm interested to learn more about how you viewed hypertext as suitable for working with the contingency emphasized at the time by revisionist historians. Can you elaborate why you saw it as a match?

Richard Snyder
As a follow-up, do you see our current hypertext-infused information society as more capable of dealing with contingency and nuance in the interpretation of history (and current events)?

Kathleen Zoller
It's incredible that all of America can be explored in this hypertext! It's evident that a lot of work went into this piece. Thank you for answering my question!

Richard Snyder
I will absolutely check out the book. Thank you for answering my question!

Richard Snyder
This is very informative on Hypergate.

Electronic Literature Lab
yes.

Holly June
Wow, a very cool slice of history. Thank you!

Kathleen Zoller
Thank you all! This has been an incredible experience

Richard Snyder
Thank you all so much for this! It was a wonderful exploration of the work and Hypergate.

Holly June
Thank you Mark and Erin! And for everyone for attending.


Kathleen Zoller
This has been a very insightful and inspiring session

Kathleen Zoller
Claps all around!

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