The advent of social networking technology has expanded our ability to communicate, adding subtle dimensions to the way we send and receive information. On the cutting edge of this new paradigm are the storytellers. Facebook and other social networks provide new and exciting multimedia opportunities, that allow creative individuals to further the very nature of the story.
The idea of roleplaying is really about telling an interactive story. A group forms, each person taking on the personality of a distinct character, and then they interact, and through these interactions a story is created which can grow and live for as long as the players are interested.
Social networks such as Facebook were created to allow people to tell stories. Pictures, videos, and written submissions all combine to allow people to tell the ongoing story of their day to day lives.
This storytelling function can also be used to create fictional tales. By signing up as a character, you can use all of the applications normally reserved for real people, to express the life story of the fictional person.
This story can then be expanded by interactions with other characters, or even with real people across the network. In this way the tale becomes interactive, with new life being breathed into it by a variety of creative minds.
Facebook and most of the other social networks are not intended to be used for fiction. In fact their terms of service will often include injunctions requiring anyone who creates an account to do so under their own name and connected with their real identity. While these rules are not usually stringently enforced, they still make it difficult to engage in creative endeavors on these sites.
The web 2.0 social networks are the next generation of communication technology. The idea that these can be used to tell made up stories is a relatively new idea. As the sophistication of the technology increases the ability to create fictional works using these tools is only going to improve.
