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Academic theses, novels, brochures, forms, and biographies are all different genres of the printed text. Each of these has its particular conventions of writing and readers have different expectations and tastes for each of these genres. Each has different criteria for a successful text.

If we think of the Internet as a technological advance, similar to the printing press, the development of genres within the two medium is then strikingly similar.

With the printing press, there was a continuation of existing genre (poetry), a mutation of the form of existing genre (non-illuminated manuscripts) and the rise of new genres (novels).

On the net, we find the same genres as in printed texts, (research studies, survey results) or more commonly, mutations of the already existing genres (e.g. fiction to hyperfiction, poster advertisements to web advertisements banners). New genres (personal home page/ online chat) have also sprung up because of the new writing tools now available to the writers.

A new media would present information in a different way, These changes brought about by the electronic media have caused readers/users  to adjust their expectations, tastes and habits t to some extent. However, some other expectations would remain the same, either because they are slow to change, or that essentially, the same is expected of every form of communication.

See also: ((((expectations and tastes))))

See also:

The Problematic Premise
The Definition of Success

Page Summary: The impact of a new medium on genres and reader’s expectations tastes and habits.