Live Web Chats

After the tower block tutorial it was mentioned that I started to look into live web chats and interviews; how they worked and how I could use the idea to make people keep coming back to the site. This post will examine the idea of web interviews and the benefits that they have. Also I would like to consider how seriously they are taken.

I firstly started looking into Live Web 'Chats,' this turned out to be a BAD idea! The majority of search results that where coming up where for 'adult chat' sites, now I'm sure there all lovely but this is not the time or the place, so time to change the search criteria: Live web 'Interviews' - much more intellectual - not that the ladies on these other channels aren't obviously!

So onto better things:

Firstly I came across this site:

www.twtvite.com

The site is dedicated to live web chats and interviews, creating a large 'database' of both up coming and previous live web chats. The site is extremely simple, using basic tabs and search bars so that you can search for specific interviews. there are four main tabs that allow you to RSVP the chat, see who else is attending, a tweet tab to see what tweets have been posted about the event and finally photos about the event that people can upload. The site embraces a number of social networking medias, whilst at the same time remaining simple to use and to the point.

The site also enables you to create your own 'twtup' on any subject of your choose; creating a group and inviting others to join in with the chat. It also allows you to look into country and area specific chats; for if you want to join in with much more of a local issue.

The 'London' Area Page:

TV Soap Interviews

OK so the next port of call was to scwore the BBC archives. I thought about when you watch TV soaps (obviously with my mom) about the interviews that are offered with the cast after the episode; so that you can ask the actors a question about the show etc. So off onto the Eastenders site. there are no real live interviews on the main site which made it a little difficult so i started to look into their archives to see if they had any previous interviews that I could use as examples; low and behold they did.

Heres a few as examples:

An interview with 'Little Mo'

rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/livechat/stream/kacey2ee.rm?start="00:30.00"&end="24:36.00"&BBC-UID=24dc6072e62f852c5b29a95ef18ad24baa891e2f60a01184e4bf892794432d75&SSO2-UID=

An interview with 'Billy'

rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/livechat/stream/perry_fenwick.rm?start="12:40.00"&end="45:26.00"&BBC-UID=24dc6072e62f852c5b29a95ef18ad24baa891e2f60a01184e4bf892794432d75&SSO2-UID=

An Interview with Sir David Attenborough

rtsp://rmv8.bbc.net.uk/livechat/stream/sirdavidattenborough.rm?start="03:05.00"&end="44:35.00"&BBC-UID=24dc6072e62f852c5b29a95ef18ad24baa891e2f60a01184e4bf892794432d75&SSO2-UID=

All of these interviews allowed the viewers to ask their questions live to the 'celeb' something which i feel adds another personal level to a campaign; allowing the user to interact; and giving them a sense that they 'know' the person that is being interviewed.

Next I came across this site:

www.keithrichards.com

This is the site of rock legend Keith Richards. The site contains photo galleries, bios etc. but the reason I have selected it as it has a nice 'ask keith' secton where fans can ask keith anything over webcam and he will record his replys

Real Time Web: Love

I love the idea of real time and the thought of things happening right here right now, what is going on around the world right now. I think that this idea creates great websites, as it really does engage the viewer. In particular those websites that require user interactivity and engagement in order to establish an output, these really make the user feel as though they are a part of something/ influencing something that is much bigger than them, just from sitting at their computer.

I've started to look into websites that use live interactivity, to maybe see how this could effect my campaign, in terms of live chats or events.

The Doritos Dodgeball Campaign

Doritos ran this live feed campaign. The idea is that it is a live dodgeball campaign where you can fire dodgeballs at celebrities live on the spot! The campaign was a competition promoting there new flavour crisp. I think the campaign effectively engages the user, allowing them to have input and seeing the output there and then on the spot. It is a fun idea that a lot of people would want to try considering the celebrity driven culture that we live in.

Nokia's Unloader

This is a pretty old campaign now, and is no longer on line; but to promote nokia's document sharing software on their new phones they created this live feed campaign.

The idea is that you upload one of your boring documents that you want destroying; then you watch the document being destroyed in real time using the technique you specify; ring of fire etc. BRILLIANT! You watch the document print, burn and be disposed of. It really does add another level of interactivity to a campaign and I think its a genius idea!

The viral is then finished off by the tagline: "send boring documents on an exciting journey" Again Brilliant!

'We Choose the Moon'

The idea of the next campaign is that it is a real time recreation of the original moon mission. For four days the site relived apollo 11's mission using hours of video footage, audio, 3D animations and live twitter feeds from the astronauts.

The campaign makes great use of social networking; having a live feed constantly on the site that you can input your thoughts whilst listening to the thoughts and comments of the astronauts. It also allows you to unlock the real footage from the take off as the site unfolds.

Example of the twitter feed.

The GTI Project

The GTI project by VW have made a real life 30 foot track in one of their factories. the idea is that people can race their friends in live footage (no longer available) in order to promote the new Golf GTI cars! As a big fan of scaletrix as a kid this was particularly cool!!!!

RNID and Accessibility.

The RNID is an organisation that helps those with hearing difficulties; so it will be very interesting to see what they are doing, in terms of a sensory website.

www.RNID.org.uk

This is there home page:

The website is very heavily text based; with a lot of information about the organisation; with buttons and tabs everywhere encouraging you to navigate around the page. The homepage is much like the other charity home pages I've looked at nothing particularly innovative; and over crowded making it difficult to see any hierarchy of importance.

The website has an accessibility section that outlines what the organisation and the website are doing to unsure that it is as easy as possible for those with hearing problems to access and use the site:

It outlines that the following changes have been made to site:

- Navigation aids have been added to the site

- The text can easily be changed sizes, so that it can be read easier for those with visual impairments

- Every image has a text description available identifying the contents of the image.

- Maximum contrast used between colours so the text is easier to read.

- All links are written to ensure they are easily understood.

These aren't all of the features but these are the main alterations as most of the others; I would just expect on any website. there is nothing particularly innovative on the site in terms of accessibility and making it easier for the user to read; however I do feel that this is because of the age of the target audience, a lot of people with hearing difficulties are of an older audience. This may also explain the fact that a lot of the adjustments to the site are sight related. The site doesn't really make it any effort with 'easibility' for the user something I should really consider.

Powerful and Moving - Messages Of Congo

After finding the Fuck Cancer sound I stumbled across this website:

Forgotten War: The Republic Of CONGO

http://www.pillandpillow.com/msfCongo/

The website is basically on online exhibition made up of images from a variety of different photographers. the photos are images taken of the war in CONGO. The idea is that the page is made up of both the photographers; that are being uploaded when they are taken, and messages entered by the viewers of the website. The comments and images make up the shape of the country in conflict, creating a striking piece of artwork in itself. The idea all about looking inside the country and seeing what the media don't show you.

The copy, content and functionality on the site get to the point they are simple and straight forward. Strong message and impact with minimal effort.

The page opening with three strong statement that directly explain what the site and the cause is. the page constantly has the sound of gun shots playing a strong use of audio, creating a harrowing and worrying feel on the site; sound overlay - something to consider.

The page is so simple yet effective to navigate through. Three sections which open a relatively small dialogue box to explain the information required. And then a tab to add your comment, so the functionality and layout of the page does not overpower the central focus which is the image.

Central Dialogue Box:

Consider the simplicity of the site and the use of audio on the site, to what extent can it add sympathy or empathy to my campaign???

FUCK YOU CANCER!

YEHHHH FUCK YOU CANCER _ A POWERFUL WEBSITE. I CAN DRAW A LOT OF SIMILARITIES TO MY IDEA FROM HERE ... PERFECT TESTING?

After looking into audio and sound and ways of displaying it with suitable functionality, I came across this website. The website does everything that I think a charity should do, it engages the user with a striking yet appropriate tone of voice; and gives a real reason to donate. Apologies for the large number of screen grabs in this post but I think that it is important for me to show them to illustrate the points I am going to make.

Here's the website though check it out:

www.letsfcancer.com

The opening home page:

The homepage opens with a typed message. the messages that appear are those wrote in the website by other users that are affected by cancer. Some very striking messages that automatically engage the user.

Here's some of the opening quotes that appear:

'I am not going to take chemotherapy, I decided that I don't like it any more. AND i will never have radtation either. I feel free and happy to be the best that I can be until my time comes.What a relief ... But YEH ... FUCK CANCER :) .... wishing you all well ....'

'Fuck you cancer for invading my Granpa, for making him suffer through his last moments of life. Fuck you cancer for making our family watch someone we love die. Fuck you cancer for burdening us with this pain. For making us bare this cross. Fuck you cancer for destroying the foundation of our family. For making my kids cry because they are loosing their Pops. Just FUCK YOU CANCER!

CANCER - I HATE!!!! FUCK CANCER. MY MOTHER DIED FROM THIS TERROR!

Ok I think we get the idea, but some of the messages are extremely powerful adding a personal context as soon as you enter the site. The messages appear as if being typed adding another personal level.

As you enter the site you are shown a simple speech bubble with the website aims etc. Surrounded by moving speech bubbles, that you can grab and click on, filling with personal videos, images and messages from sufferers and those affected by cancer. The speech bubbles are then aligned when they are clicked. This is so in key with what I have been trying to express, adding a personal level to the website.

Videos and comments are then enlarged for a closer view and you can read the story and comment. Each comment and video then gives you the opportunity to love the content, donate to the content or post it on your social networking page.

Choose to donate to the FUCK YOU CANCER cause or information about holding your own event to raise awareness of cancer in your local area. The videos and comments specifically encouraging you to donate.

AGAIN I WOULD ASK THE QUESTION THOUGH IS DONATE A WORD WITH A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION?

Use of strong copy on the navigational tabs, simple and easy to understand. Making for extremely easy navigation.

The website also has an 'online shop' continuing the causes branding and identity. It continues to the phrase FUCK cancer in a profound way, really making you take notice. However I'm not 100% convinced that the shop is totally appropriate??? But it is a relatively decent way of 'spreading the word.'

Expressing ways of using the stickers with some quite nice copy used to relate to the image:

SO HOW ARE THEY GETTING PEOPLE TO DONATE?

The idea of their site is identical to that of mine! ANNOYING! Basically the idea is that you watch and read the 'bios' and then donate because you are influenced or moved by what has been said. With the donate form. they then have a recognition wall thanking those who have donated. But I'm still not sure about the word and the idea of 'DONATE' I'm still unsure. Maybe this is something that I could experiment with - Experiment from copy.

The site also plays on the idea of celebrity endorsement, something I need to investigate further, is it actually beneficial?

RESERVATIONS

I love the website and the way it plays on personal thoughts and feelings with quite striking and forceful copy. But the site shows how much people have donated from each of the personal inputs, and it is very little, so it is making me question does it work??? ....

Tower Block Tutorial

Here's the PDF I showed in the group tutorial to show where am I with the project and what I'm currently thinking about. It's not a very good PDF but I thought it would have been neater and more efficient to talk using one rather than using loose sheets of paper.

Feedback:

So I showed my PDF to Sian, and a few of points have been raised from the feedback:

• the idea of using visual and audio on the website is a nice idea, but i need to start considering how this will actually be directly useful on the site and to diabetes UK?

• Great having a space for people with diabetes to communicate with each other, but do not forget the goal - to get people to donate and sponsor. How will this turn into people donating and sponsoring?

• Think about how the video will work, and think about ways that it can become a controlled medium, rather than just open opportunity to post anything. The uploaded nature may be inappropriate or the views may not be that interesting? How can i provoke interesting view points - a topic on conversation?

• A good point Chiara was whether or not people would upload, maybe people will be too shy and prefer to type their views out?

• Is it just as easy now to record yourself on a webcam than it would be to call in or record audio input?

• Live feeds from researchers could be looked into. Could you have live feedbacks where people can ask the researhers questions (like the examples in EastEnders; which I do not watch just to clarify!)

• Some way of thanking or encouraging researchers, not done enough?

• Think about the navigation and layout of the page. How could I present videos on the page; that relate to specific research tasks?

• Look into live online events; could these be 'rewards' for people that donate?

• At what point do you ask for donations? And the tone of voice and copy you use to ask?

• Think about how people read about the research; analyse would they rather hear it or see it visually? (Further Research and Audience Testing)

• Look at the RNID website; how do they deal with sensory impairments. (Further Research)

OK so that was much more than a few points, but I just kept remembering new ones But anyway I think they give me great food for thought of where to take the campaign next and things to consider about applying the use of visual and audio inputs. Maybe I should start thinking about the application of them and how relevant they actually are. After all I just really liked the idea of audio but can I make it work? Hmmmmmm time to get back to the drawing board and research some more maybe.