DIGITAL NARRATIVES AND CONNECTED YOUTH: HYBRIDISM, COLLABORATION, AND LEARNING ON WATTPAD

Abstract

This article analyzes the narrative production practices of young authors on the Wattpad platform, investigating how hybrid languages are mobilized as part of multiliteracies processes and contribute to the formation of subjects and meaning within the context of digital culture. Conducted as a qualitative research study and grounded in a netnographic approach, the investigation focuses on fictional narratives characterized by shared authorship, affective literacy practices, remixing, and multiple references. The theoretical framework is based on the concepts of Media Ecology as proposed by McLuhan (1964) and Postman (2000), Connectivism as formulated by Siemens (2014), and Digital Literacies as discussed by Lankshear and Knobel (2008). The study highlights Wattpad as an informal collaborative learning ecosystem, where young people express their creativity through new interpretations and/or extensions of cultural products related to their fields of interest. The analysis of a corpus of eight (08) fanfiction stories—within the subgenres of TV series adaptations and teenage romance—reveals collaborative reading and writing practices in digital environments that foster new remix literacy experiences, intertextuality, and intermediality, expanding interpretive repertoires and weaving new dialogues around meaning-making by connected youth.