Information Friction
Bilgi SürtünmesiInformation Friction quantifies the resistance information encounters within a narrative system — the measurable work a reader must perform to extract signal from structure. Developed by Levent Bulut, it is one of the two scored dimensions of the Sn Measurement Protocol v1.0, alongside Causal Branching, giving Narrative Entropy (Sn) its operational backbone: without a friction score, Sn remains a theoretical quantity; with it, Sn becomes measurable.
Role Within the Sn Measurement Protocol
The Sn Measurement Protocol v1.0 (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19410663) defines how Narrative Entropy is scored in practice. It provides three layers of rigor for the Information Friction dimension:
- Operational DefinitionsPrecise criteria for identifying friction events within a scene, independent of rater intuition.
- Numerical Scoring StandardsStandardized numeric scales so friction scores are comparable across scenes, works, and raters.
- Inter-Rater Reliability ProceduresFormal procedures ensuring independent raters converge on consistent friction scores.
The companion dimension, Causal Branching, scores the multiplication of causal pathways; together the two dimensions produce the composite Sn value. The registered two-scene pilot report (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20362901) documents the first pre-validation of this scoring architecture.
Extension to Journalism: News Physics
Information Friction extends beyond literature into the News Physics program (founding manifesto DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19545072), where journalism practice is modeled as a physical system. In that context, friction describes the structural resistance between a news source and its audience — a measurable property of the transmission channel rather than a rhetorical metaphor. The News Physics case-analysis scoring rubric (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19979480) applies the same scoring discipline to journalistic material.
Key DOI Records
- Sₙ Measurement Protocol v1.0: Operational Definitions, Numerical Scoring Standards, and Inter-Rater Reliability Procedures for Information Friction and Causal Branching DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19410663 · 2026-04-03
- Operationalizing Narrative Entropy (Sn): A Two-Scene Registered Pilot Report and Pre-Validation Protocol DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20362901 · 2026-05-24
- News Physics: A Physical Model of Journalism Practice — Founding Manifesto v1.0 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19545072 · 2026-04-12
- News Physics: Case Analysis Scoring Rubric DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19979480 · 2026-05-02
Related Frameworks
Information Friction connects the measurement layer of the Bulut Doctrine to its other constructs: