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Home | Strategy | Media Dynamics | Bending The Spoon

Data Publishing (Bending the Spoon) – The Black Art of Web Publishing

APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING THE DYNAMICS OF THE WEB – ACCEPTED PRACTICE



I know what you're thinking ...



Yes, I think the sci-fi analogy has been carried far enough as well, lets get straight into looking at how to strategically address the media dynamics of the web to deliver an effective communication outcome. The following table looks at some of the approaches and accepted practice that are used to address the nature of the web as a communication medium.

Approaches to the dynamics of the web and some accepted practices ...



Aspect of Analysis header image.
Data (Web) Publishing header image.
Manifestation

Situation – Author publishes data that is not consumed until rendered by another device.
Practice – Both the content publisher and consumer depend upon the common application of standards and technologies (HTML, CSS, TCP/IP, URL, etc.) to increase the likelihood that the consumer will experience the content as the publisher intended.

Consumption

Situation – Public web pages are part of the total internet landscape (one big book).
Practice – Consistent style, branding and structure are used to indicate the 'family' of pages and content elements that make up a discrete website, since there is no spacial physicality of the object (as there is with a book) to demonstrate where one website ends and another begins.

Beginning

Situation – A visitor can start their experience of your website on any page.
Practice – The nature of search and the use of links makes the web a 'non-linear' content experience, meaning that most websites must put the key elements of their 'table-of-contents' on every page in the form of navigation. The variable entry points of visitors also means that the meaning of an individual page needs to be clear without specific reference to other pages.

Ending

Situation – A visitor can finish their experience of your website on any page.
Practice – In constructing content, you may not have the luxury of slowly building a compelling argument that finishes with a great conclusion. The shallow consumption of most web content, combined with scanning and variable exit points means that you need to make your key points immediately and repeatedly.

Interaction

Situation – Visitors do not consume web content in the same manner as printed material.
Practice – Visitors generally browse, scanning text and rapidly clicking through links that grab their attention. Consumption is rapid, erratic and superficial. Publishers utilize the tools of rhetoric, repetition (key word density), emphasis (stylistic treatments) and simple direct language to get the key messages across before the visitor is lost.

Appearance

Situation – The publisher does not know with certainty how the content will appear.
Practice – Variation in devices, operating systems, browsers, installed options, preferences and a whole host of other variables mean millions of possible outcomes as the published data is compiled for a viewer. All of the publishing choices made in relation to design, structure, content and message impact the ultimate manner and consistency of appearance.

Editability

Situation – Unlike most other publishing, web content can be continually changed and updated.
Practice – This is the blessing and the curse of the web! Unlike many other publishing environments, you can publish, test, adjust and continue to improve the effectiveness of your material. It also means, that it is difficult to simply 'set and forget'. Every time you publish a web page, you have created something that will continue to demand your (or someone else's) input into the future, something you need to check in on, maintain and support. Sort of like the 'puppy is for life, not just for Christmas' idea – so be careful how much you create!

Distribution

Situation – The web is a broadcast medium, however the audience is unpredictable and fickle.
Practice – The web is fundamentally different to other communication media. The web is broadcast like radio or television, and yet, like a book or DVD, the audience decides when to consume the content. Unlike any of the other communication options, there is basically no geographic boundary and there are basically no limits on the size of the audience. However because of the power of the web, consumers are also bombarded with options and the sheer quantity of web pages. As a result your audience will probably never be as big, or spend as much time absorbing your content as you would like. It will be in the science of your construction and the art of your message that you will maximize both the size and attention of your audience.

Audience

Situation – The audience is unfiltered, unknown, and hard to pin down.
Practice – Web statistics show some audience metrics after the fact. Extranets, Intranets and other 'closed' environments can be used to segment known audiences from the broader public. Customization using registration (known users), cookies, and other automated segmentation may allow you to personalize or otherwise customize to different groups. Testing and scenario analysis may let you focus on the behavior of 'like-minded' groups and strategic use of advertising may also funnel certain market segments to your website. Determining your objectives in relation to your audience and then implementing around these objectives, is part of the strategic development we will look at under Visitor Behavior.

Fragmentation

Situation – You are publishing data, it can be broken-up and reassembled in any fashion.
Practice – If you are working with the web, you have to let go of the idea of a single piece of work that is in some complete, consistent and pristine condition. Instead, you need to embrace the idea that not only are consumers electing which pieces to access, even the machinery is doing to same. For example, on a mobile device, all of your images may be removed. Another website may only wish to link to a specific section of your website and robots and other automated code that is hunting through your content is making decisions about which content to include in search and which content to ignore. This dynamic is another reason for standalone stories (chunks of content), repetition of key ideas and constant clues as to where you would like consumers to go within your site.

Duplication

Situation – Your content will be copied, distributed and changed.
Practice – Produce a public website that search tools such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft can access and by definition, elements of your content are being copied. Even the process of a visitor viewing your website means passing data to their device - itself a form of duplication. If you are trying to prevent or restrict the duplication of your content, then the public face of the internet is the wrong strategic selection of media. The public internet is about distributing content, providing information and getting attention - the price is some reuse and yes, some 'bastardization' of your published work.

Currency

Situation – The web by itself does not communicate the age or time period of content.
Practice – Television and radio happens largely in the moment. Newspapers, books and other printed publications provide either by their form or other standardized practice information about the relevant timing of their content. As a web publisher, you must address the timing confusion that the web can create - when was the content created, when is it meant to be consumed and what is the relevant period (if any). Most web content fails to explain it's moment in time.


Explore addressing some of these dynamics for your website, using the media worksheet.


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Contributions by David Warwick
Created Nov 22, 2006 | Last updated Feb 8, 2007 | Iteration 4
 
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