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What is an analogy? The definition of analogy is an expression of similarity between two unlike things. Usually the comparison involves two or more comparison points. In real life, analogies are used to explain and teach. Their most common uses are to Explain something unknown in terms of something known. Explain something unfamiliar in terms of something familiar. Explain something unseen in terms of something seen. An analogy usually does more than describe the appearance of something; it explains how something works. Analogies usually oversimplify to give an frame of reference in which detail may be understood.

To claim that there is now such a thing as “Web 2.0 storytelling” invites risks. For one, some media reports suggest that this type of storytelling could be either hype or a danger. In addition, trying to pin down such a moving target can result in creating terminology that becomes obsolete in short order. Moreover, claiming that storytelling is happening online and is developing in interesting ways contradicts some current assertions about a decline in reading.Accepting these risks, we suggest there is most certainly a new form of expression that is compelling to educators. Starting from our definitions, we should expect Web 2.0 storytelling to consist of Web 2.0 practices.

Lonelygirl15 (http://www.lonelygirl15.com/), which started as a series of short videos on YouTube, grew to include a large number of comments, blog posts, wiki pages, parody videos, response videos, and a body of criticism. In each of these cases, the relative ease of creating web content enabled social connections around and to story materials.

Web 2.0 narratives can follow that timeline, and podcasts in particular must do so. But they can also link in multiple directions. Consider the possibilities facing a reader (or a viewer or a listener) who approaches Postmodern Sass. One timeline follows blog posts in chronological order. Another follows comments to a single post. A third follows links between posts, such as when the author refers to an earlier situation or references an old joke. Web 2.0 creators have many options about the paths to set before their users. Web 2.0 storytelling can be fully hypertextual in its multilinearity.

'In other words,'' says Dr Sue Thomson, of the Australian Council for Educational Research, ''larger proportions of students can be described as 'strong performers' in the digital medium than in the print medium.''

If anything, what the new technologies will do is provide more opportunities to engage with long-form texts. The distribution mechanism will allow greater access. If you wanted to read almost anything on anything, I can almost guarantee there'll be 5000 words that someone's written about it somewhere, that you can get your hands on in an instant.'

''Everybody's either on a Kindle, emailing, texting, reading the news on their iPads. The digital revolution is not destroying reading. It's changing the shape, the form, the context and maybe how we do it, but I don't think it's diminishing it.''