Digital Life Stories: Auto/Biography in the Information Age

Michael Hardey (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, Michael.Hardey at ncl.ac.uk)


DOI: 10.1191/0967550704ab010oa

Abstract

This paper is about `digital life stories' as a new form of autobiography in the `information age'. One of its aims is to argue that we have been living in the information age long enough for digital life stories to become a significant new form of narrative that reflects the social realities of everyday life under conditions of global complexity. It is argued that digital life stories constitute a new genre that is characterized by four key dimensions. These dimensions are analysed and placed in the context of lives lived in the information age and auto/biographical writing. Issues related to the identification and analysis of digital life stories are then considered. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of digital life stories for auto/biographical work.

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