Interactive Narratives

YoPittsburgh
No offense to all of the yo-yo fanatics out there, but I found this interactive article to be incredibly boring. I'm not the type of person who enjoys looking at a story about yo-yoing when the rest of the Interactive News website is filled with stories that, well, matter--stories about societal issues, human triumphs, and the problems we face. Also, I wasn't very fond of the presentation either. The graphics were amateur, but perhaps that is the way the story intended. Whichever is true, I still found it hard to focus when what I was looking at was not pleasing to the eye. Furthermore, the music that played during the video sequences was not my cup of tea. I thought this story was creative, but could the Post Gazette not find anything more interesting to write about?

Mardi Gras After Katrina
I highly enjoyed this article because it was heartfelt and emotional. Hurricane Katrina did so much damage mentally and physically to the people of New Orleans, and I sympathize with everyone from that area. I really enjoyed the format of this story, where the creator used still images to show the range of emotions of those people during the first Mardi Gras after the natural disaster. Seeing most of the people carrying on the tradition of Fat Tuesday and hearing that they were uplifted for at least a day (while cleanup continued) really made me appreciate the culture New Orleans has. This story of hope in the wake of a horrendous storm was not only inspirational and encouraging, but designed simply and purposefully as well.