User:Simon/Etherpad timed writing/editing experiment

Description of task

In November 2018, I experimented with a timed writing task using Etherpad, a collaborative realtime browser-based text editor. Etherpad automatically assigns authorship colours to users, and I wanted to explore how a text that I was writing, reading and editing over a specific time period could be visualised.

Method

The method was to begin writing a text about what I was doing (writing, reading and editing). I began by establishing writing periods of 3 minutes, and a rest period of 2 minutes. After 6 iterations, this shifted to 5 minutes for both respectively. I kept writing and opening up new private tabs in my browser to give each iteration new authorship colours. These are lost when exported, so I recreated the text and authorship colours to make visualisations.

Isolated outcomes

Each iteration is isolated in the following visualisations:

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  21:10-21:15

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  21:15-21:20

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  21:20-21:25

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  21:25-21:30

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The authorship colours with text removed:

The experiment showed me that editing is a way of writing, kind of like making growing a tree while making furniture from it. Whatever is written is there to be pruned and shaped into pieces that are joined together to form a supportive text structure. The software of Etherpad makes this visible with its authorship colours, all the more so when it is used as it has been designed; collaboratively.