Experiential design:  A term used to describe the emerging field of taking stories out of the traditional television or movie boxes and producing them as 360° experiences. A person will engage with a story very differently on their phone than they will in their social network than they will in an online broadcast than they will on television than they will if they are directly involved in real life. Crafting stories in the new media age means designing for all the various ways in which people can and will encounter the core story.

Mashup: A Mashup is a digital media file that takes 2 or more sources (video, maps, text, music, etc)  and creates a new, remixed work.  Here’s an example of a map mashup created by Ushahidi that is tracking violence in and around Karachi: http://map.pakvoices.net/

Multi-platform: While the term traditionally refers to software that can work on several different operating systems or types of computers, it is increasingly used to describe projects that involve multiple “platforms” such as social networks, computers, phones and even projections or live events.

Twitter: Free “micro-blogging” service where people send short (140 character) messages about what they’re doing, thinking, observing or concocting in that moment.  Friends, family, fans and strangers sign up to receive these brief snapshots and can opt to read them on their phones, computers or online. Since the messages (called “tweets”) are mostly public and therefore traceable, Twitter is also a great tool to track emerging trends.

Social Networks:  Term borrowed from sociology that increasingly also refers to groups formed on websites such as Facebook, Friendster, Ning and MySpace.  These sites allow users to build profiles with photos, videos, causes and various applications and then connect their profiles to networks of friends, families, organizations or regional groups.

 

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