FLYP, a new way of storytelling
FLYPmedia.com takes storytelling to a different level; it’s extremely innovative, modern and interactive. The way this site is structured will be a model that many news outlets will want but probably can’t afford; if they do, they’ll adopt it slowly. The interactive options throughout the website are endless. Each story contains flash, videos, narration, music and/or photos.
The opening page to the site is promising. It has one of the hottest debate issues on the front page, which grabs viewer’s attention to browse because it’s a topic that affects the entire nation, health care. The videos used in the health care story are “raw” video of real people sharing their experiences with insurance companies. The videos add an extra layer of reality and emotion by involving the public.
Even something as simple as the calendar has an interactive feature. It shows a photo and when you click on the photo, it flips over to show the date, event name and description. In addition, there is calm music playing which could potentially slow the viewer down to listen and interact simultaneously. Though the calendar hasn’t been recently updated, the concept is smart.
FLYP uses the slogan, “more than a magazine,” and they couldn’t have said it better. Compared to a large magazine like Time, the websites are completely different. Time has a website like most news outlets with tabs to route you to “U.S., world, politics, arts, video, etc.”
One difference is that most news outlets do not use flash. You usually have to find and click on a video/audio (wait for an advertisement ) to start as opposed to FLYP, which once you click on a story, it usually plays music and narrates while showing a video or slide show.
Another difference is the length of stories. Most outlets shrink their content for internet use. FLYP has lengthy content but it’s hard to tell because they put it on multiple pages with so many interactive pieces to keep you on the site. FLYP’s concept is impressive, but don’t know how receptive or successful outlets will be with this new model.
That’s all for now…
