Several years ago I was part of an online group called "Cloudmakers." It was a group that had formed to collectively solve the first Alternate Reality Game called "The Beast." I contributed nothing to the final solution, but came away from the experience wanting to use the internet to tell a story in the same way, taking audience members from one site to another, letting each find a path through the story.

Now of course everything is about social media, which makes this even easier - I've followed several people online, first on Livejournal, later on Facebook.

A long time ago, maybe back when I was in junior high, I found a book on the shelves of a local bookstore called Have An Out-Of-Body Experience In 30 Days. Its title was one of those random things that has stuck with me even after 15 or 20 years. I found a used copy of this book online and started reading. My idea was to create a fictional girl who was reading this book and following each day's steps.

I created a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a YouTube account, a last.fm page, and a Deviant Art page. The blog was the most effective way I found to continue to tell this story though I tried to expand on her story and character using other sites. She favorited videos having to do with Astral Projection on YouTube, and created an Astral Projection playlist on LastFM.

In the end I don't think that 30 days was enough time to tell the story I wanted to tell and to use all the social media tools at my disposal in the best possible way. I decided after 30 days to continue with this "performance" after the ACTLab class has ended.

If you are interested in following astralgirl88's journey, she can be found at:

• Blog
• Facebook
• Twitter
• last.fm
• Deviant Art
• You Tube

Please friend her, follow her, email her, and let me know if you have any feedback. Make her interact with you, allow yourself to affect her story.