Journal Reflection #7-Jenna Kelley

A hypertext is generally a text that if you click on it online, it leads you to various other pages with more information. This information can be more texts, more visuals, or even audio files. A kind of consideration that you have to make for reading a hypertext is to understand if the hypertext makes sense to be added within the context. In other words, did the author have the correct intent of adding the hypertext? Was the information added, necessary to being added to the context of the message? Also, the author needs to make sure that the hypertext is fact checked. You would not want to add false information to your text. Fact checking goes hand-in-hand with updating your information in the hypertext. You have to make sure the information you are linking the hypertext to is current so that the audience knows that it is a reliable text.

Another thing to consider is if the text is handwritten or online. Utilizing a hypertext online is easy because all you need to do is click on the text and it can bring you to another page for more information on the topic. For a printed text and an online text, the author can post a graph or visual directly on the page in order to provide more information. The only difference is that on a printed text, you cannot post a link, because the audience, obviously, are unable to click on that link.

An author also needs to understand that the individual reading the text is able to access the hypertext. The author needs to understand the technology being used for the text. For example, in my public speaking class, we have an online textbook. This textbook includes many different videos for all of the students to watch for each chapter. I would be unable to view this hypertext if I did not have a computer and was only able to order a physical textbook. The hypertext and quiz links are part of what make this class hard for users who do not have a computer, because without viewing the videos, you would be unable to take the quizzes. Furthermore, all of access, fact checking, updating, and conceptual knowledge are all things to take into consideration when adding a hypertext.