Tracy Reed (writer)
Encyclopedia
Tracy Reed is an American
writer who created the first episodic online story, the QuantumLink Serial
on AOL
(then called Quantum Computer Services).
The series debuted in 1988, and was played out in online chat rooms, emails and traditional narrative. The series also went by the name The AppleLink Serial and The PC-Link Serial on those services before they were all unified under the AOL brand when Quantum changed its name. After each week's chapter was published, users wrote to author Reed suggesting how they could be part of the story. Each week Reed chose one to a handful of users on each of the three services and wrote them into the story, depicting how they interacted with the fictional characters. The project was personally greenlighted by AOL Marketing VP (later President) Steve Case
and produced by Kathi McHugh.
Later titles, the most famous of which was The Spot
added photos and video to the stories, and introduced the advertising-supported model that became standard during the Internet
dot-com boom
. Reed's work also is a building block in the development of Alternate reality game
s.
In 2010 a Northern California interactive theater
group announced that they were producing a new interactive drama by Reed, "The Koi Pond."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer who created the first episodic online story, the QuantumLink Serial
QuantumLink Serial
The QuantumLink Serial by Tracy Reed on AOL was the first episodic online story. The series was also known as the PC-Link Serial and the AppleLink Serial before all three services were unified when Quantum changed its name to AOL....
on AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
(then called Quantum Computer Services).
The series debuted in 1988, and was played out in online chat rooms, emails and traditional narrative. The series also went by the name The AppleLink Serial and The PC-Link Serial on those services before they were all unified under the AOL brand when Quantum changed its name. After each week's chapter was published, users wrote to author Reed suggesting how they could be part of the story. Each week Reed chose one to a handful of users on each of the three services and wrote them into the story, depicting how they interacted with the fictional characters. The project was personally greenlighted by AOL Marketing VP (later President) Steve Case
Steve Case
Stephen McConnell "Steve" Case is an American businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer and chairman of America Online . Since his retirement as chairman of AOL Time Warner in 2003, he has gone on to build a variety of new businesses through his investment...
and produced by Kathi McHugh.
Later titles, the most famous of which was The Spot
The Spot
The Spot, or thespot.com, was the second episodic online story , after an earlier experiment by AOL's QuantumLink Serial, and pioneered the underwriting of bandwidth and production costs by offering paid advertising banners on the web pages and product placement within the journal entries...
added photos and video to the stories, and introduced the advertising-supported model that became standard during the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
dot-com boom
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
. Reed's work also is a building block in the development of Alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
s.
In 2010 a Northern California interactive theater
Interactive theater
Interactive theatre is a presentational form that breaks the "fourth wall" separating performer and audience both physically and verbally.In traditional theatre, performance is limited to a designated stage area and the action of the play unfolds without any interplay with audience members, who...
group announced that they were producing a new interactive drama by Reed, "The Koi Pond."