Are Twitter Storytellers the Heroes of a New Postmodernism?

@VeryShortStory is a Twitter story told in a series of tweets, or “twitter-sized fiction for your entertainment,” as the Twitter profile describes. Writer Sean Hill started the story two years ago and quickly gained a following of fans through his innovative use of the social information network. The VSS (short for Very Short Story) stream started on April of 2009 with the following tweet: “Rick reached into the mousehole feeling for the ring. No luck. He peered inside. Mouse stuck out his tongue. Rick went to fetch the cat.” And so it began—a very short story that grows increasingly longer each day, like the song that never ends.

“A new medium will enact and express a new kind of subjectivity” — Katherine Hayles’ My Mother was a Computer

In a recent article for The Social Times, I pondered on the possibility of storytelling on digital platforms. I wondered whether or not story was possible on spaces like Facebook and Twitter. I asked, and The Social Times community answered. Several of our readers responded to the article, and a few commentators directed me to an intriguing and successful Twitter account that not only demonstrates the capacity for narrative on social media platforms, but also changes the way we engage with story in a hyper-textual atmosphere.

@VeryShortStory is a Twitter story told in a series of tweets, or “twitter-sized fiction for your entertainment,” as the Twitter profile describes.

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