I’m not sure if Scott Karp is correct to compare AP’s attempt to stop people using more than 4 words of its copy to the Atlantic’s use of quotes from his blog without linking to his blog. I agree that both are a bit ridiculous, but AP’s move was clearly thought through, while the Atlantic’s is no doubt an oversight or shortcoming in their workflow (I very much doubt they thought ‘let’s NOT link to online sources mentioned from online versions of our stories).
Anyway his wider argument that maybe there is less need for things with a long narrative structure anymore is interesting. His argument that there is a viable alternative to narrative structure is hard to argue with; and isn’t just an internet thing anyway; but edited/curated/aggregated snippets are indeed a valuable and useful way to create new meaning and convey it. But he also argues long form information is “so fundamentally inefficient and inferior to connected bits of information”. Surely this is just trolling. Yes, for lots of types of information joined up dots, snippets or whatever you want to call them, are fine. I could read a whole book to find out about, for example, the origins of utilitarianism but, depending on my goal, I might only take away a few key facts and therefore might be far better off reading a few wikipedia entries.
But it’s also that there will always be complex subjects that are not only best told through a long form, narrative structure. Why? Because the world is complex. Yes, many industries and many of us involved in communication make a buck out of over-complicating things. Half the non-fiction books I read seem to be re-hashed doctorates or a very very long way of explaining one or two single ideas. But many things are more nuanced. Keeping the Atlantic in mind; James Fallows’ piece on manufacturing in China and Megan McArdles’ piece on the economics of ageing societies were two of the more interesting pieces of journalism I’ve read in the past year, and wouldn’t have worked as a bunch of joined-up little segments because it was the colour, the structure and yes, the length of each story that allowed them to convey such interesting facts, ideas and observations.
Secondly, is efficiency all we care about? For a business, an industry or an economy – yes, of course it’s vital. But that’s a very reductive approach. The world is more than just an economic output machine; we are also societies and cultures, with ideas, passions and dialogues. And texts are more than just groups of facts and ideas and connections.
storymachine 