Give Me Something To Look At!

What makes a web page something that you want to visit over and over again?  Content, of course!  However, once all those words start to blur together, give me something  visual to look at.  That's where the use of multimedia tools come into play.   Multimedia tools are tools that allow you to insert text, audio, still images, animation, video, or some type of interactivity content to your web page.  The use of multimedia tools should enhance your site (Sniderman, 2010).    The picture of the moving waterfall came from a site called Photobucket.  This site has tons of animated pictures that can be used for a variety of purposes.  You can even add sound.  I started to add sound to the waterfall, but I thought it might be too distracting for some people.  That brings me to my second point.  Too much multimedia might not be such a good idea.  Can you say sensory overload?  

Now, let's pretend I was writing a blog about a trip to the zoo.  It would be one thing for me to describe the majestic beast, perched on top of the rocks, with a roar that put fear in everything within a one mile radius, or I could simply do this : 

Okay, so maybe he wasn't really perched, more like sleeping, but wasn't the video nice?  The video is thanks to a site called PhotoPeach.  This site allows you to take your pictures and create a story.  You can add music, sound and text.  All of these things enhance your story, and allows the viewer to live in the experience, exactly like you did.  

Every multimedia tool will not work for everything.  As a writer, you must consider the message you are trying to create, your audience, and the method of dissemination first. Once those details have been worked out, finding the perfect tool will make your page much more creative, entertaining, and appealing. 

Zachary Sniderman (2010). How to: Add multimedia to your blog. Mashable.
http://mashable.com/2010/07/28/add-multimedia-to-blog/