Hypermedia

There is no denying that hypermedia has a unique ability to attract and keep the attention of a reader more effectively than traditional text. As Healy states, ¿Video is persuasive¿ it pulls on emotions and evokes mood more readily than does print.¿ Take, for example, how the success of popular music depends as much (if not more) on the visual presentation in the music video than on the song itself. A music video¿s combination of sight, sound, and thought creates a powerful and effectual tool for reaching the listener/viewer. In the same general way, the integration of text with pictures and sound serves to enhance the effect of the information on the reader/listener/viewer. Indeed, ¿the emotional impact is greatly enhanced¿ by stimulating the reader through multiple senses.

        The current ¿electronic revolution¿ that is underway is not necessarily ¿displacing interest in literature and books¿ but rather is combining traditional forms of learning with a new medium that has the ability to surpass reading¿s confinement ¿primarily to the left side of the brain.¿ The change should not be looked on as abandonment of traditional values, but as a new form of communication and expression that combines both the teaching capacity of literature and text with the developmentally beneficial effects of multimedia.

        The barriers that have traditionally separated literature from audio and visual elements are being broken down by hypermedia. By breaking through these barriers, the new media has a far greater potential to reach its audience to achieve its purpose.