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Online storytelling:Seeking new forms, presentations

Written by Paul Eisenberg


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"Given the choice, people would rather watch moving images than read it in print. [The question will be] How is the Web going to be different from your TV, not from your newspaper or magazine?" -- Mitchell Stephens

In his article, Paul Eisenberg talks about how online storytelling is still dealing with old storytelling techniques, while the Web should be developing to other means of storytelling. The key thing in this article is that many people are unaware of how to accomplish a different style within Web storytelling. In his article, Eisenberg interviews people like Mitchell Stephens, Chris Fruitrich from USATODAY.com and Mary Norman Jacobson from FACSNET to back up his point.

Listed below are some online storytelling tips from the experts.

  • Get to the point: "Our average online news reader is coming to us for less than 10 minutes and is reading about six to 10 pages. What they look for is targeted information and what I call instant gratification," Fruitrich of USATODAY.com says. He also said, "Writers, editors, and designers should focus on trying to keep everything on the 'top screen' ... that is, nothing below the scroll, except in the case of full stories. Readers also don't like to scroll, and if you force them down a page to find links, etc., you are likely to lose them."

  • Move beyond wire content: Using different means within Web storytelling will enhance a story. Use graphics, polls, charts, photos, etc. to entertain an audience more.

  • Don't play games with dates: Use dates consistently, but without overdoing the presentation.

  • Use first-person narrative judiciously: Always try to stick with the basic rules of journalism, meaning do not get caught up in the first person "journal" part of online writing. Lamar Graham said, "But I tell [students] to resist that impulse [using first person], because the news is still about newswriting."

  • Assume your reader has the same time pressures you do: Jacobson notes that "sometimes Web folks have a tendency to apply bells and whistles just for the hell of it." She is a firm believer in "payoff for download, meaning that you consider the value of the multimedia in the context of time it takes the user to download. If it takes me 14 minutes to download your video, I'll probably be too frustrated to care what's on it — or more likely, I won't even bother to wait."

    • Here are some examples of other student's websites who also summarized this articele.

    http://mason.gmu.edu/~kbradle1/inclassassignment1.htm
    http://mason.gmu.edu/~jbattenr/comm361/onlinefreedom.htm