According to Electric Literature, New York Public Library is redefining what a "story" is by making the Instagram stories more "readable" and "storytelling" which a service is called "InstaNovels." Unlike the common usage of Instagram stories (people sharing their daily lives, dogs, birthdays, selfies, you name it), InstaNovels will bring classic literature to your Instagram stories. From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, to The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, you will start being able to read these classics on Instagram!
What make them surprisingly accessible is that each classic is GIF-illustrated by well-known artists: Magoz (@magoz) for Alice, Buck (@buck_design) for Wallpaper, and César Pelizer (@cesarpelizer) for Metamorphosis.
From August 22nd, on NYPL's IG account literature-lovers can check these stories out. Entering the story, first you will see the creative GIF illustration as the book cover; then, you tip the screen as you usually do to get to the next story where the content of the book is; after that, you are officially into the story.
Electric Literature suggests that the font, colors, and design elements of the story are optimized for a better reading experience: a beige background is good for eyes; the Georgia typeface makes the long text reading easier; on the right bottom there's a place "Thumb here" by which you pause the page and read the text. One cute thing is: with the pages turned further, the "Thumb here" will gradually become a blue tiny cyclops!
Instagram unknowingly created the perfect bookshelf for this new kind of online novel. From the way you turn the pages, to where you rest your thumb while reading, the experience is already unmistakably like reading a paperback novel…We have to promote the value of reading, especially with today's threats to American system of education.