What is a HYPERTEXT and examples

Our way of writing has changed a lot in recent years and we are not referring precisely to language or style. Currently, most of the texts we read or write they are on the computer, so new ways of expressing ourselves and capturing the attention of readers have emerged. One of them is hypertext.

In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to explain what is a hypertext and we are going to give you some examples so that you can see how it behaves within a computer text.

Hypertext is a concept associated with computing and refers to the system that allows linking texts together. This allows the user to access the information that interests him, through related topics, instead of doing it sequentially. Thanks to the hyperlinks the reader jumps from one topic relevant to him to another, so that he creates his own reading experience.

Hypertext was created in the The 60s by American philosopher and sociologist Theodor Holm Nelson. He wanted to give a name to a new way of reading in which the user reads in a non-linear and interactive way and that arose through computing, with the appearance of the Internet.

In order to put a hyperlink in your texts, the World Wide Web (www) created a protocol HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), which in Spanish means Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This protocol allows the communication between information systems to transfer your data between them and to combine the networks of different computers as linked HTML pages, web pages or multimedia files.

We can see a great difference in reading with respect to the printed books of a lifetime, since in these, reading is done sequentially and the reader begins at the beginning and ends at the end. In the case of hypertexts, on the other hand, users usually do it in a non-linear way, due to the fact that they can visualize the information without a sequence, but following the interests of their search or the concept that calls their attention at that moment.

When computers appeared and these began to be used by the majority of society, the texts acquired a new much more interactive dynamic that responded to the needs of users to obtain information much faster than traditionally. The speed of information that is currently received is very advantageous for the area of ​​education, since it helps to facilitate comprehension and presents a much more dynamic and interactive type of narrative.

In the realm of literature, there are some claims by experts and literature theorists that the use of hypertexts are not only used in digital media, but these can go further. Hypertext has also been used in some literary works in which the author offers a non-sequential reading, with links to other stories or fragments by other authors. A good example of this is the work of Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar.

hypertext is very associated with the use of technology and its use has been expanded due to the proliferation of digital media and the Internet, over traditional paper formats. Every day, through our navigation through web pages, we make use of hypertext, sometimes even without realizing it.

The main example of hypertext today are the links inserted in web pages through which we navigate and that take us directly to other websites when we click on them. It is also common to find hypertexts that take us directly to another part of the text that interests us.

For example: We are reading a travel guide to all the countries in Europe, but we are only interested in Denmark. In the top box, which works as an index, we can click on the name of Denmark and the page will take us directly to that point that is relevant to us.

Other examples of hyperlinks

• Links with access to other old posts
• Links on web pages to other pages
• Links with access to other new posts
• Links on web pages to that same page
• Hyperlinks in words with unusual meaning
• Links indicating the bibliography used in an article
• Shortcode
• Banners placed on web pages

Now you know a little better what are hyperlinks and you have seen some examples of where you can find this new concept in the literature on the Internet. If you are interested in continuing to learn about the types of writing that exist in the Spanish language and how it is evolving to adapt to today's society, do not hesitate to consult our section on writing.