I’m preparing for some IA workshops on what my client calls ‘interactivity’. The end product needs to be some conceptual prototypes that will show them the sorts of things they will need to do in order to engage their online audience. It’s a bold move for this client because they have really only worked in print and used their website as an online repository of their paper content. The only problem is that their staff don’t really understand what the social revolution created by Web 2.0 brings. Ultimately, most see ‘interactivity’ as little more than online multimedia.
Recently, Ronald D. Moore, the Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica, spoke on what he did to SciFi.com’s website in the area of interactivity.
“Let’s put as much on the Internet as we can–concept art, scripts, out-takes….But they have to be prepared to realize that we’re making a lot of stuff up on the fly, that we make mistakes. I’d be perfectly happy letting fans digitally download everything in the production office, right up to and including putting dailies on the Internet. Then they could edit their own versions of the show. That’s what I would want if I were a big fan”
Moore used the internet to let fans see the inner workings of his show, offering Podcasts of the writers’ room, and exclusive online ‘Webisodes‘, and ScFi’s website traffic doubled as a result. He trusted his audience and offered up his content for use and re-use, for free, and now Moore has a loyal online community behind him as a result.
I’m hoping my client will take notice of this sort of behaviour — it’s what social computing is all about.
M
