Prevent Divergence?
In dealing with divergence, Am assumes an author-controlled text. If the reader ends up five nodes off the original topic, it is because she has moved in directions that interest her: her focus has changed. Since we are now giving readers responsibility constructing texts, we, as authors, must not try to prevent divergence, but encourage it. On the Web, the assumption that an author can prevent anything is ill-conceived. Similar to the remote-control's impact on advertisers on T.V., authors on the Web must realize their roles have shifted from creating univocal expressions of knowledge to convincingly providing information as well as commentary and suggestions for additional information. To "prevent divergence" assumes the author is the single authority, and that the reader should be limited in her ability to get to the information she desires.
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