Participation in Interactive Stories

Participation in Interactive Systems

• Participation occurs when the audience can influence at least one aspect of the project, such as the story.
• Interactive stories can be considered as closed systems, where the audience can act but cannot interfere with the story.
• Closed systems presuppose interaction but not participation.
• Open systems, on the other hand, allow participation, where the audience can influence the result and change the outcome.

Requirements for Participation

Public Sphere

• The public sphere has to be accessible.
• Spaces of communication are needed for civic participation.

Practices

• Citizens need to learn how to participate in the political discourse.
• Practices can be learned.

Identities

• Citizens' identity and sense of belonging are shaped and transformed by experiences that lead (or not) to forms of participation.

Knowledge

• Citizens' knowledge is needed to activate political participation.
• Having access to the public sphere is a basic requirement.

Values

• Societies are based on values, whether ethnic or religious, which should function as guidelines for civic behavior.
• Trust is a precondition to participation.
• There are two types of trust:
  • Thick trust: personal relationships.
  • Thin trust: people who we don't know personally but in whom we 'put our trust'.

Learn about the concept of participation in interactive stories, its differences with interactivity, and how it relates to open and closed systems. Understand the role of the audience in influencing the story and its components.