VIDEO STORYTELLING IN A DIGITAL AGE
A study of three online storytelling strategies
By Julie Jones

Online journalists have a multimedia toolbox full of storytelling possibilities. But since an online story can be told in any combination of words, audio, still photos, graphics and video, some journalists may consider multimedia to be code for multiple confusion. Perhaps the most confusing question of all is how to use video on the Web.

A new study of online users' video preferences conducted at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication suggests the answer may depend on whom you're trying to reach. Three different Web sites were created out of the feature "Crutch Freestyle," a story by digital journalist David Snider. The pages offered different levels of video and interactivity:

· Linear--presented the video much like a television story.
· Quasi-linear--used a text transcription of the story with a still image that linked to the video.
· Non-linear--used several still images to link to different parts of the video story.

The linear version required the least interactivity from the users and the non-linear required the most.

Online users from two age groups -- seniors over 55 and Generation Y users between 18 and 24 -- navigated through all three versions to determine which one they preferred. These age groups represent some of the most active and experienced online users -- both key demographics for online news sites. Though the study used a small sample of 17 participants, some patterns did emerge.

The senior women all preferred the linear version, and found the text of the quasi-linear version to be a roadblock to the video clip. Senior men, however, preferred the quasi-linear version by a wide margin (3 to 1), and said the text helped their understanding of the story. One senior man called the text "a clue;" another said the text gave him "a little background." And another senior man put it this way: "It is like reading a novel about something and then seeing the movie about it."

The Gen Y users were less predictable, but they narrowly preferred the non-linear version, apparently because it put them in charge of the story. As one Gen Y woman said, "I didn't have to follow [the story] the way that they had originally laid it out. I did it the way I wanted to see it."

If you consider which approach each age group disliked, there is a clear and intriguing relationship between video preference and age. None of the Gen Y participants preferred the linear version and none of the seniors preferred the non-linear version. In other words, the version one group liked the least was liked the best by the other group, and visa versa.

The two age groups also navigated the stories quite differently. Even when exploring the non-linear version, the seniors used linear logic - starting with the top right clip and then moving down the page. Gen Y users, however, navigated through the non-linear story in a number of different, non-predictable ways.

For journalists, this study supports an old mantra: Know your audience. Stories expected to appeal to older men might best utilize a text and video combination. In contrast, stories that should appeal to older women could feature video more predominately. If your online material attracts a younger audience, developing non-linear stories will be increasingly important. These users, born into a digital world, look for interactive media and, at least in this study, soundly rejected old-fashioned linear media.

As long as most home users still "dial up" their Internet access, the text and video combination of the quasi-linear approach might be a common ground for general stories with wide appeal where all users can meet.

References:

1. Julie Jones is a former TV photojournalist. This research was part of her master's project at ASU.