Multimedia Critique
For this assignment, I chose the “52 Places to Go in 2016” multimedia package created by The New York Times and posted on January 7th of 2016.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/07/travel/places-to-visit.html
The package lists and describes 52 different locations across the world using pictures, videos, infographics and writing to try to convince the reader to visit these places in 2016. Aside from a few exceptions, most of the cities listed on the piece are unusual destinations that probably wouldn’t be picked by most travelers.
I personally liked this package because I have always been passionate about traveling. In fact, a few years ago I created an Instagram profile where I post videos, photos and tips from my adventures around the world alongside my husband and my ultimate goal is to grow that page and eventually make a living from traveling and social media. This multimedia package introduced me to several places that weren’t on my list of places to visit, but now became top priorities on my future travels.
This piece represents a great use of multimedia for several reasons. The detail that stood out to me the most is the fact was the use of high-quality videos and photos that fit the reader’s full screen, making it seem like you are physically present at that location. This design choice made me feel like I was traveling while I read the piece, which I found very interesting. Furthermore, under the photo or video’s credits, there’s the name of the location, a subheading summarizing the place and a short text explaining why the user should visit that place or the most interesting things to do or eat there. In addition to that, there is also a small map on the side, showing where that location is in the world for those who may not be familiar with the place. It’s a phenomenal use of a multimedia package because it not only summarizes the most important things about each location, but also makes the audience want to travel to those destinations.
However, there were a few things I didn’t like about it, like the fact that the large photos and videos along with the writing makes the piece extremely long and tiring to read. In fact, I didn’t read all of the text, I scrolled through the piece and only read about the cities or the photos that interested me the most. As a matter of fact, unfortunately some photos and videos were not well-chosen and doesn’t seem appealing or interesting, which ends up hurting that particular’s city reputation. Another drawback is the fact that the writing itself has various lengths from very short to very long and can therefore seem boring and uninteresting to a reader who just glances at it. There is also no audio in this multimedia package, although it could be easily incorporated into it.
I think this multimedia package could have been improved by featuring shorter text for each city, with a very quick intro about the city and two categories in bold “What to do” and “What to eat” followed by options in bullet points, making it very simple for the reader to glance at it and understand what the city has to offer without reading the entire paragraph. The piece can also be improved by featuring better photos and videos for all cities. Pictures of food aren’t always interesting, for example and the drone videos are appealing and makes us feel like we are flying in that particular city. I would also choose less cities, since choosing 52 places made the package very long and tiring to read. I think 20 at most would have been a good number. Lastly I would incorporate audio as well, to make it even more of an experience to the reader: perhaps a short testimonial from a traveler who visited that place, or the sound of the city in a particular place.
Other than that, I truly enjoyed analyzing this multimedia package and will definitely be adding some of these cities to my bucket list.
