Revisiting The Spam Folder (1)

Revisiting The Spam Folder: Using 419-fiction For Interactive Storytelling. A Practical Introduction.

This workshop will be offering the participants both a theoretical and practical introduction to interactive narratives in '419-fictional environments' created by internet scammers. We seek to understand different sides of online fraud and through creative storytelling reflect on issues like online privacy, virtual representation and trust within networks. We also draw parallels to other practices and cultures like: gaming, transmedia storytelling or creative activism. Through a 419 fiction toolkit participants take the first steps of creating their fictional characters and infiltrating a scammers storyworld to observe and interrupt their workflow.

We explore how persuasive narratives are setup, how characters are designed and how dialog is exchanged to build trust between the acting parties. We will use social media and various content generators and other tools to orchestrate internet fiction. By reflecting on scam bait experiences we enter a discussion around the topic of interactive narration connecting to the participants' and their general work in this field.