Haylie's Week 8 Post

 The last chapter of Scott Rettberg's Electronic Literature focuses on the smaller genres of digital literature that exists beyond the main genres that were previously talked about. These genres give the audience a deeper way to engage with the piece. Rettberg talks about GPS in this chapter and elaborates on how interactive and engaging apps like Google Earth are. "Our interactions with contemporary social networks and online shopping sites are not only based on who we are and what we do, but also where we are and the situation of the world around us" (Rettberg 184). For us, GPS and other things like weather apps are very helpful. There are several pros but also big cons like providing our exact locations. For authors and artists though, "various locative technologies now available to writers and artists have opened up exciting opportunities for storytelling and for performative interaction that is based on our location" (Rettberg 184). 

I decided to take a closer look at "Bubble". The description intrigued me by saying "where humans must survive hostile environmental conditions". My first impression was that I wasn't really sure what was going to be on my phone. I noticed that there was a mute the volume button but the whole time I didn't hear any audio even when it was on so I wonder if that would have made me experience different. The story takes the reader through someone's day living in 2050 where Earth is facing severe global warming issues. You have to swipe your screen to clear the smog to "take care of your bubble" that is on your head and protects you. In the end, my character died because the bubble couldn't keep out the toxic air enough. Then, a prompt popped out talking about how climate change is really affecting us today and how by 2050 we will be facing "extreme weather events and intense air pollution on a daily basis". I personally loved this project because it is impactful. It's scary to realize that that could be our world after playing the whole thing but it's so true.