The 5 on Your Side section of the WRAL.com site had its positive and negative aspects. While the opportunity to submit consumer complaints and the Restaurant Ratings by Request promoted interactivity of users, the format of the Web site seemed lazy.
It is obvious that WRAL has not achieved any autonomy on its Web site or promoted creativity in the presentation of its content. Most of the video is directly from the original broadcast.
While the information regarding restaurant ratings was enlightening, the format made me cringe. If I weren’t forcing myself to look at content on the side, I would have quickly exited the video. There was no text story to accompany the video, only the original package.
It would make it a lot easier for Internet users to quickly get this information through a text block listing the ratings of the restaurants, rather than forcing them to sit through sound effects and graphics on a video.
The content about the consumer recall on frozen pizzas was equally disappointing, with the video again taken directly from the broadcast. In fact, the video provided no additional value to the story because it was just a graphic listing the recalled brands and the possible contamination. This information was already in the story.
Hey! Check the link for “5 on Your Side.” It links to a Wikipedia article.
Good review. You’re totally right. If the content is interesting but the layout is rotten, the Web site will not be effective. I like the idea of restaurant reviews, but if the site is not visually appealing I won’t use it. Thanks for the heads up!