Hypertext, Hyperlinks, and the World Wide Web

Abstract

AbstractHypertext, defined at the most essential level as “linked text,” and the hyperlink (shortened to simply “link”) serves as the foundation of much writing in digitally native spaces, impacting print-based writing. The World Wide Web has stood for nearly three decades as the primary implementation space for hypertextual writing. The characteristics of hyperlinking, intertextuality, multi-pathed organization, hypermedia, content forms, and collaborative authoring practices have come to replace print-based writing conventions as the dominant features of electronic-based ones. Research has been conducted on hypertext and the World Wide Web since their inception by computer scientists and writing specialists, among others, to better understand technological needs, writing pedagogies and practices, as writers work from an increasingly diverse input base—from computers to tablets to mobile devices.