Review 3 interactive media products

My chosen media products are:

• Snapchat
• YouTube 
• Mario Karts 

Snapchat

Target audience - 

Snapchat is aimed mainly towards people of all genders aged between 15-25 years old. This can be seen through the duel navigation system. The younger end of the target audience are more likely to scroll through the menus whereas the older end would most likely click through the menus using the icons. The app is used widely by people of all sexualities as the vast amount of content interests all different kinds of people. All social grades can use Snapchat but it is likely that the largest number of users appear in the B-C2 groups. Even though the largest number of users are from the US, Snapchat is used by people across the globe.

Purpose -

Snapchat is to communicate with friends and family and keep up with their daily life. It allows users to post short videos and photos know as ‘snaps’ and send messages individually or in group chats.

Navigation -

Snapchat has a navigation system where you can swipe to access different menus. The app opens on the camera and if you swipe left once you can access the messages and if you do it twice you can access the map whereas if you swipe right once from the camera you can look at peoples stories and twice to look at spotlight which are short videos. Alternatively there is the option to navigate the app through the icons at the bottom of the screen. Each icon relates to one of the menus previously listed and when clicked will refer you to the chosen menu.  

Accessibility -

Snapchat is accessible to many people. An example of this is its dark mode feature. This, as the name might suggest, changes the usually white background to a dark gray and the black writing to white. This is good for people who may be visually impaired in some way. Another example of Snapchats accessibility would be the closed captioning feature on certain videos. Although it wont be on all videos, it is a step forward from a time when none of the videos had any types of captioning. These captions make the app accessible for the deaf community but also for people who might be watching the videos in public on silent.  

  

Interactive features -

Snapchats funny, interactive filters are great for the target audience to have fun with friends and create fun memories, however, some filters are more about looks than than fun. This could create a problem for the target audience as body image becomes an issue. The users may start to use these filters to feel 'pretty' and may start too feel bad about themselves outside of the app.

Page weight - 

The app is 218.4 MB. This means that it will take up quite a bit of storage and and take a while to download without a lot of wifi. It may also run bit slowly due to low wifi levels.

Youtube

Target audience - 

Youtube is mainly aimed towards people ages between 16-35, however, there is content for children aged 3-5 based on things such as paw patrol. Youtube is used by people of all genders and sexualities due to the wide range of content and creators meaning it is easy to find something of interest for anyone. YouTube can be used by people in any social grade but it is mainly used by A-C2. The A end is usually represented by the larger content creators and the C2 end usually being the watchers. Much like snapchat, YouTube can be used across the globe.

Purpose -

The main purpose of YouTube is to share and watch videos. These videos can be about pretty much anything. Some examples are music, video games and daily vlogs which are videos about what the creator does throughout their day. These videos are mainly created in order to entertain but some are aimed to inform or educate people about things such as culture and also things such as racism and other kinds of social injustices along with a wide range of other things. 

Navigation -

The navigation of YouTube is mainly through the use of clicking icons. For example clicking to watch a video, clicking on the search option or clicking on things like the subscription menu. There is however a slight element of scrolling as you can scroll down on the pages on mobile devices to go further down the list of videos and if you are watching on a TV you can also scroll across similar to other media products such as Netflix.

How is it interactive? -

It is interactive as you are able to scroll through the menus and click on things but you are also able to live videos and make comments on them allowing you to communicate with creators and other users.

Accessibility -

YouTube is quite accessible to many people. One way it does this is that many videos have the option of captions for people who are hearing impaired or have other auditory processing issues. However not all videos have them which may be a problem for some people. Also they aren't always the most accurate since most of them are autogenerated.

Page weight - 

765kb. This is good because it means that it won't take very long to load and doesn't need a huge amount of internet.

Here is an example of YouTube on a desktop -

Here is an example of YouTube on a mobile -

Mario Kart

Target audience -

The target audience of Mario Kart is mainly boys aged around 6-13 but it can also appeal to other genders and ages based on the different characters and extras available. It is suitable for people of all sexualities as well since there is nothing that is harmful to anyone. Mario Kart is mainly used by people in the social groups B-C2. This is because people in A are likely to busy working to play the game and people in D and E possibly can’t afford a console or mobile device of which Mario kart is compatible with. Again, Much like YouTube and Snapchat, Mario Kart can mainly be played globally since their are many different formats in which it is available. Some examples are Nintendo switch and a mobile app.

Purpose -

The purpose of Mario Kart is to entertain. In the game you drive around a course and compete to win the race. There are obstacles you must avoid and also power ups that you can get to help you win.

Navigation -

Mario Kart is mainly Navigated through the use of clicking on icons. You are able to change your character and also the car you drive. The use of clickable icons makes it easy to navigate for the target age group since they are quite young but also for all players in general.

How is it interactive? -

Like I mentioned, you are able to click around to change characters and cars, but you are also able to select how many rounds you want to play and also what course/courses you want to play. Then once you are in the game you are in control of driving the character around in order to attempt to win the race.

 

App Size -

The app is 221.3 MB. This means that it will take up quite a bit of storage and and take a while to download without a lot of wifi. the game may also run bit slowly due to low wifi levels.

The law that forces designers to make 'reasonable adjustments' to their websites or platforms to ensure that their product is accessible is the equality act. This ensures that all people get to use websites and other platforms despite their differences.