A Digital Narrative

By:SA Photographer & Designer: Digidi Dyse

A showcase of the best digital narratives and digital news design for the iPad, mobile apps, tablets and ebooks have a captured audience ready to jet on a new media crusade that has changed the game altogether. The launch of the Ipad, arguably the most desired gadget of 2011, has since seen a surge of digital news cast including the likes of iMaverick.

The trick of course is to have the most user friendly, smart applications such as Blackberry Messenger (BBM), but have the capacity to deal with the heat that comes with high demand and the people's conventions. Blackberry suffered a set back towards the end of 2011, frustrated social media addicts experiencing withdrawals symptoms during "blackouts" we could say- "it was long time coming". Hijacked social media platforms such as BBM that assisted in mass mobilization of young activists for whatever the cause are "HERE 2 STAY". InfoTech is key in advancing connectivity, and in a place such as Africa its thriving,  the Arab spring certifies the power of digital media.

Perhaps far more compelling is the transformation of mainstream media affected by twitter, blogs and facebook, which now faces a tough time trying to compete with updates and news feeds shared online faster than you can say "Breaking News">>#tag has taken over!
As for the "Bad&Ugly">>the cellphone scandals and Household media woos xposed in 2011 reared its ugliness and left alot to be desired.....Now we know that what was once perceived to be informative, should be considered to be manipulation of the truth.
 So now we are witnessing an exciting era where the truth depends on who's telling the story and most bloggers and twitters have become advocates of #truestrory. Lets call it the reign of independent media>>new point of views and broader perspective. It may be said also that the digital media has created an opportunity for Digital Artists to stretch their range for creativity with graphic designs or visual content that coincide with today's applications ranging from smart phones to ipads and 3D motion picture.

@payt would like to shine a spotlight on digital narratives in Africa that tell African stories or a point of reference thats fresh and progressive. A review of the Audiobook "A-Dollar-A-Day", brings us closer to what the future holds for digital narratives in African context, seeking the solutions for Africans right here in Africa. "A-Dollar-A-Day" is a compilation of commentary as well as poets and musicians with a common vision the "rebirth of Africa". The Audiobook is produced by MM3rd of Dextraw Multimedia, a digital music producer who has his pulse on sounds of Africa with influences by JDilla, Madlib and MF Doom, maintains an authentic African experience, but most importantly has managed to sample some of the best narratives on political issues that range from Zimbabwe and its landreform policy, negative-ethnicity to African mindsets and population control.

"A-Dollar-A-Day" is a 2012 Souvenir marking 100 years of the Liberation Struggle of the African National Congress. A free download will be available @paytafrica.blogspot.com /@maishayetu.wordpress.com, so stay tuned in!!!