It seems more and more evident that modern society’s longstanding ties with printed text are being overtaken by visual images. Today, magazines and newspapers alike have large color images on the front page, seeking to grab readers attention. No longer are simple text titles enough to convince readers to indulge in the contents of printed media, but instead we rely on images. Interestingly enough, I was surprised to see that this evolution has become especially apparent in the Washington Posts’ new website feature, Topicly.

Check out Topicly here

Topicly presents news in a very smooth and visual way. Instead of stories denoted by written text, the general topics are separated into large images. Once the user decides what he wants to read about, entering into one of the topic sections brings you to a page with stories paired with more images. Finally, after clicking on the desired story, the user will arrive at a more typical online news story.

I feel like this new addition is a bit pointless. If you are too lazy to discover what story you want to read on the normal website without images, what is the benefit of a feature on the site that will give you a visual guide to finding the story which you once again will still have to read in text. I understand its purpose is to capture readers who are more prone to look through visual portrayals of the news, but at some point they are going to have to read, and it seems like they are just delaying that realization.

-Nick

Fifa is one of the most popular video games in the world. For those who have never played it or seen it played, Fifa is asoccer video game created by EA Sports. It is a form of digital media that has been developed over the past decade. There are a variety of options of how one may choose to play. The annually produced games come filled with a library of major teams all over the globe, along with up to date rosters. The original method of use for Fifa was either single player games against the computer, or multiplayer games against friends on the same console, but in the past couple of years, technological advancements have led to much more. With the impending release of FIFA 14 in the next couple of weeks, I thought it would be a good time to share some information about the game.

The in-console mode of playing multiplayer games is still highly relevant. Just the other day I faced our friend Norris in the Amsterdam Arena. Tensions were high, as is the norm in a Fifa match, and the music was blaring. People walking through the halls were drawn in by the energy of the room to spectate as I put on a show. Norris held me off for a full 90 minutes and sent the game into overtime. It was in overtime that the Netherlands Team and I found our stride. It started with a foul 4 yards outside the box which led to a free kick that I buried in the top right corner. Afterwards, the flood continued as I put two more goals in the back of the net, sealing Norris’ demise.

This type of entertainment that I have described above is common place for those who own the game, but more relevantto how Fifa has become a potent form of digital media are the new features such as the Ultimate Team. This feature is available online only (either xbox live or the playstation compliment). In this part of the game, the user is the manager, coach, and player of his own team. This idea adds many components that require the users attention. Now, not only does the user have to be talented at the game itself in order to defeat opponents online, but he also must be a savvy manager who is able to assemble a talented team. Assembling a team is not easy either. There is a whole economy behind the pricing of players on the market, adding an intellectual component to the game. Also, socially the user must be capable of interacting with other users in order to bargain for players.

This is a very interesting touch spin on the game. It definitely will make things more interesting, and probably consume some lives. I am still unsure whether I will join in with the Ultimate Teams movement. Beating Norris in the multiplayer mode might just be too much fun.

-Nick

Hello friends,

I have a Facebook profile, a Twitter account, an Instagram account, a Snapchat account, a Gmail account, and a Yahoo account to name a few of the social media that came up of my daily use log. As you may be able to notice, I consider myself to be relatively well versed in modern social media. Rarely does a day in my life pass without checking each of these accounts. Given such a variety of applications to connect with friends and family with, it is easy to miss a message in one place or another. Thus, I put forward an alarmingly large slice of my daily energy into monitoring my social media via the medium of either my smartphone or computer. For this reason, I found the attached video particularly amusing. It is an extreme example of a situation I face on a daily basis: how should I get in touch with my friends?

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Does anyone else ever face this dilemma?