She stressed that the story can change according to the audience interaction and reaction Story2Oh! acquires, and even invites feedback apart from that. "Do you want more of it on Facebook, do you want the story to move faster? More or fewer mushier parts? More video? Shorter blog posts? Which character should I kill off? Which one needs to get laid?"
An early criticism of Story2Oh! is that the audience might not have the attention span to follow a narrative that requires a bit of a scavenger hunt. But Golick sees it more as a layered approach to storytelling. "You don't need all of it to get a picture, but if you want you can go deeper, there's more stuff to look at."
"I think there's enough redundancy built in that you'll get it. In fact, if you only read Ali's blogs, or only watched the videos or only followed the Facebook content, you'd have a satisfying experience."
Indeed, simply interacting with fictional Facebook Friends, and seeing how they interact with others, can be fun. Ali's blog is like a small slice of chick lit, in posts that compare her knitting projects to her relationships ("I’ve been in a relationshippy mood, but I can’t seem to find the right guy. A few have presented themselves but they seem like hats when I’m in the mood to make a sweater or felting yarn when I want to make lace").
Simon's blog so far – the videos launch soon – is a bit of a testosterone fest that includes advice on the etiquette of a threesome ("Thank them. It’s polite. And be grateful until you die."). Apart from the other Story2Oh! elements, it offers what the blog tagline promises: "one boy’s adventures in dating."
"It's a goal that every little tidbit we put out there offer entertainment value on its own," Golick explained. "I don't know if we achieve that quite yet, but it's something to live up to. I don't want to waste your time with empty calories. Every moment you agree to share with me has to be entertaining."
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
This is brilliant, but I wonder how it will all play out when *everybody* is doing it. The first few get a free pass because they're new and cool. When there are hundreds or thousands of campaigns ongoing... I don't know.
2 - Diane Kristine
Yeah, and as someone I know said, this particular project doesn't seem scalable. In other words, how does it work if it's hugely successful? That one-on-one interaction between fan and character either has to barely scratch the surface or automated, in which case it will be less personal (none of that winking at my obsession with House, or commenting on my blog for example) and therefore less "cool." But for now it's fun and I think they're on to something that maybe can be built on as more people get more experience creating this kind of entertainment for the web.