Multimedia Definitions and Example:

Multimedia is the union of information, sensation, stimulation and participation. It is art and entertainment, education and interactive engagement. Multimedia brings together diverse and distinct vehicles for communicating information in ways that may inform, inspire, entertain and interactively engage, by presenting a combination of media modes, which may include text, image, audio, video, animation and/or interactive technologies.

While our Web 2.0 world has dramatically increased our engagement with digital and electronic multimedia presentations, the same defining principles of multimedia as a combination of different types of media are also evident in many works of traditional and fine arts and can be seen all around us in advertising campaigns and educational tools that combine words, sounds, still and moving images, etc. The first books many children read combine, at the most basic level, a mixture of text and pictures. Our families and communities document our shared experiences in albums or scrapbooks that may combine photos, illustrations, and written language. Advertisements that bombard us on television often include music, still imagery, and text, in addition to video. So while we tend to think of "multimedia" as primarily inhabiting a high-tech world, it can be perceived all around us in an ongoing way throughout our lifetimes.

That being said, the proliferation of multimedia presentations and possibilities via the internet, has and continues to dramatically expand our opportunities for engaging with new presentations of information that captivate us and provide increasingly accessible outlets for our own creativity, as well. As the ability to post text, upload images, and stream audio and video via the web becomes increasingly simplified, user-friendly, and open to "authors" of varying degrees of technical ability and media expertise, multimedia authoring is becoming an increasingly vital tactic and toolset for individuals, communities and organizations that are seeking to convey information to a wide audience, despite limited power, technical or financial resources.

To illustrate the enhanced communication and outreach capacities multimedia affords groups engaged in grassroots social change, I have selected a multimedia example recently used in a campaign with which I've been active. The "Not Your Soldier" flash presentation (accessible via the link and image below) combines words, video, animation, voices, music, photos and interactivity in a brief presentation that is entertaining, eye-opening, and informative, reaching out to young people to both engage them in considering the realities of the growing militarization of the youth community and presenting examples of resistance from previous generations. It is an interesting example because it is both an advertisement and promotional piece for another multimedia presentation (the documentary film Sir! No Sir!), while also serving as a multimedia presentation, in and of itself. Additionally, it connects viewers to the websites of the organizations affiliated with the campaign, providing creative outreach and awareness-raising about these organizations and contributing to their organizational capacity building by generating new subscribers to their email alert lists. Viewers can "interact" with the presentation by sharing it with peers via email, posting it to their own website, blog or myspace page, and clicking on one of the hotlinked images at the end of the presentation to sign a petition, make a donation, or purchase related merchandise on the web. As an organizer, I was impressed with how our campaign was greatly enhanced and expanded by this engaging tool, which spread virally to thousands of young activists online, demonstrating how increasingly accessible multimedia sharing has become in our web 2.0 world.

http://notyoursoldier.org/article.php?list=type&type=14

Flash presentation to promote the film "Sir! No Sir!" and the Not Your Soldier Campaign, combining text, images, animation, video, audio/music and connecting viewers to interactive opportunities for viral online promotion and online engagement with the issues presented.