Richtel uses Twitter account
to pen a 'Twiller'

New York Times journalist Matt Richtel has invented a storytelling format called the Twiller. The idea is for Twitter users to follow fictional characters — which many already do anyway — as they progress though a plot, reports Adrants.

Richtel's Twitter serial is "about a man who wakes up in the mountains of Colorado, suffering from amnesia, with a haunting feeling he is a murderer," the author wrote. "In possession of only a cellphone that lets him Twitter, he uses the phone to tell his story of self-discovery, 140 characters at a time." The main character is also accompanied by a hooker, who occasionally appropriates his phone and Twitters conflicting messages — warning people that he is a killer, for example.

The narrative boasts multiple opportunities for interactivity. It weaves in and out of current events (the characters attended the Democratic National Convention) and occasionally solicits other Twitter users for help or advice — an outreach Adrants called "disingenuous" because Richtel does not "follow" other Twitter members, meaning he wouldn't actually be able to see whether someone responded to him.

Issues of interactivity aside, Richtel prefers to think of the narrative model as a variant of "[the movie] Memento on a mobile phone, with the occasional emoticon."

Last year such text-based serials became a popular fixture of Japanese mobile life, but the trend never grafted to the United States. And Richtel's Twitter-based narrative has already drawn critique from at least one major blog, Valleywag, which penned an article scornfully titled "New York Times reporter poses as hooker on Twitter."

Twitter etiquette can be tricky. Hiding behind an obviously false identity — like Dr. Tobias Fünke, a character from TV show Arrested Development, or HL Mencken, who is dead — is considered acceptable to some members. But unless Twitterati are "in on the joke," so to speak, a user may court ill will. Some commenters on Valleywag's story labeled Richtel a liar and ridiculed his fictional representation as a hooker on Twitter.

"The appearance of my story on this new medium has apparently confused some people," Richtel acknowledged, pointing to Valleywag's story. "But many of my newspaper colleagues write novels. I’ve already published one. This is just an experiment in a new medium."

Those inclined may follow the plot at Twitter.com/MRichtel, which currently boasts 537 followers. A search for "mrichtel" on Summize also reveals users have begun to buzz about his Twiller project.