Anyone

It occurred to me that if electronic literature is for anyone, then it may be the most democratic genre that exists. "The Garden of Forking Paths" presents the idea that a single story can contain an infinite amount of possibilities. Because electronic literature allows the narrator to configure their own meaning and representation, it accesses countless narratives, thoughts, concepts, and ideas that have never been manifested or considered before. Anyone and anything can find its existence in some variation of electronic literature. The idea of potentials and impossibilities coming into being is both liberating and terrifying. It is liberating to know that somewhere, there is a place where voices that have been silenced can freely gain their materialization and expression. Perhaps a randomized instance will shed light on a possible future that has yet to be imagined in real life. The uncertainty, though, is terrifying. If creativity is unrestrained and anyone can generate any story they want, what happens when they go too far? Is there such a thing as too far? Professor Snelson mentioned the reality of bot takeovers on sites that are left unprotected and unregulated. If he hadn’t intervened, would our site have experienced the kind of organizational, philosophical, or moral degradation that inevitably occurs when there is no oversight or sense of propriety?