The Machine Starts: Computers as Collaborators in Writing

The penetration of digital technologies into the process of creating and disseminating narratives is no longer a new phenomenon, but perhaps what does still seem strange and far-fetched is the suggestion that machines are collaborators and authors in their own right. This paper examines an example of a computer-mediated narrative and suggests that not only does the machine exert its own agency in the process of writing, but this process has a long provenance from the ancient world, through the 20th century avant garde, and into contemporary technological futurism

Narrative Approaches to Wellbeing

The importance of narratives in therapeutic processes such as convalescence, psychotherapy and counselling is well-established. Such narrative-based approaches highlight the benefit of sense-making, coping and positive affect in circumstances of illness or psychological distress. These phenomena are consistent with theories of narrative which emphasise contextualisation and the restoration of equilibrium. This paper proposes to open up further areas of enquiry by examining a range of theoretical models of narrative as an imaginative space. It will examine a selection of established models of narrative in literary and media disciplines, and identify some themes and categories which recur in the practice of story-telling – such as inevitability and agency, community and individuality, freedom and destiny, absurdity and purpose. The paper will conclude by articulating some of the major themes that narrative suggests as a discipline, and which therefore might prove fruitful in understanding not only how story-telling plays a part in therapeutic processes, but how narrative might help to formulate a more generalised notion of wellbeing

The Ethics of Netnography

Ethnographic and phenomenological research is commonly used to understand the motivations behind, and consequences of, people’s participation in online spaces; and such qualitative methods are arguably essential to understanding the role that virtual spaces might play in areas of mental well-being, personal health and self-help. Such techniques clearly require consideration of the ethical dimension of research practices. This presentation examines the ethical guidelines for Internet-based studies published by the British Psychological Association and examples of their implementation in research projects, and suggests that such guidelines inappropriately apply models of public space to the web, and that their application often obscures an underlying misunderstanding of Internet practices. This presentation represents a key stage in the author's research into the use of online spaces by people who are bereaved, and is based on preliminary surveys prior to undertaking ethnographic and phenomenological research