Dipity: Taking big issues and putting them into an easy to follow format

Posted: August 23rd, 2008 | Author: Ed Walker | Filed under: blogging, campaigning, charities, Journalism, tools, web | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Thanks to Craig McGinty for flagging this one up. Craig posted about the Manchester Evening News’ great use of Dipity to create online timelines. They created one about the congestion charge in Manchester.

Could Dipity be the answer to the problem of trying to bring an audience up to speed on a long and complex issue? A journalist relies on the archives to remind themselves of what’s happened previously and I know from when I’ve been in newsrooms a trawl through past stories was essential. Dipity is web 2.0 completely, taking loads of information in different formats and shoving it together in an easy to follow timeline. Reminds me of those textbooks we had at school of timelines about the Tudors etc?

It’s not just journalists who could be using Dipity, charities and campaigning organisations can put an issue and its background in the spotlight and show what’s happened previously. I think the Students’ Union where I work will be hoping to use it to show the top-up fees debate, which will rear its head again in 2009 when the report is started into lifting the cap. Dipity could be fantastic at taking deep, and often political, issues and putting them into an easy to follow format. How else could it be used?

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One Comment on “Dipity: Taking big issues and putting them into an easy to follow format”

  1. 1 Stephen Nelmes said at 5:34 pm on November 7th, 2008:

    Well I just wish I had seen this earlier.

    It is a smashing piece of kit if you ask me. The ideas you have promoted in using this is a good one.

    What I have used it as on my site http://www.takinglibertiesonline.com
    is used it as an RSS feed from the two main newspapers for my subject. Ok it looks a little odd displaying my stories as well as theirs, but it gives the user a chance to view all the stories of the day in one place on one page. I have also assigned a twitter feed from certain contributors to link directly to the time line.

    I must also say it is quick and easy to use. No guidance or tutorial was required and I produced the timeline in ten minutes.

    Quick, easy and niffty!

    Ciao.

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