Thing 3: Mashups online

Some digital applications can be very useful at the early stages of writing--when we need to get lots of ideas together and not worry about how they're going to fit . . . yet.

I've found digital mashups to be a great way to brainstorm when I've got lots of ideas from lots of sources. Have you ever created a mashup?

It's easy. First the official Wikipedia definition: "a mashup is a web page or application that uses and combines data, presentation or functionality from two or more sources to create new services."

Mashups are useful because they can allow us to access our visual abilities. Think poster presentation meets digital web. Your mashup (or digital poster) can have videos, links to websites, text, audio files, images and more (some mashup sites allow you to embed applications like counters, surveys and games).

Here is an example of a mashup I created called Backyard Birds in Winter. I used Middlespot, a free tool that allows you to combine text, pictures, video, web links and embedded web content on a customizable background. You can share your mashup by sharing the URL or embedding it on your own webpage or blog. Here's my mashup embedded on this blog.

I did it just like embedding a video: click on "share" then "embed" then copy the code and paste into the HTML editor of blogger. You can look at the mashup by grabbing and moving it with your cursor.

If you want to access your Middlespot mashups on other computers or browsers, you'll need to sign up for a free account.

A visual mashup is not the only type of mashup. Data mashups combine multiple data sources to allow you to cross reference or cross analyze different data points. Check out DataMasher. With a free account on DataMasher, you can create your own custom data sets; without an account, you can look at data sets created by other users. Data comes from data.gov and other state and federal governmental sources.

Bear in mind, this is not considered rigorous statistical analysis--because the data sets are determined by users, and the information on cross-referenced data sets may or may not have a strong relationship. As my colleague Randy Christiansen says "correlation is not causation."

Mashups are, however, a great place to start looking at ideas, trends, and data--in other words, a great brainstorming tool. Mashups are user friendly (and user-generated) and visually appealing.

Thing 3 Assignment:

Using Middlespot, create a mashup on some topic that's of interest to you these days--something you would enjoy writing about . . . but maybe don't have the time to do full research on right now. Could be a hobby you have, a band you like, a country you want to visit, a camera you wish you could buy, a news story you're fascinated by . . . "Mash" together images, text, embedded web content, video and/or audio and move them around into a pleasing collage before saving.

Also, take a look at Datamasher--can you use any of the data for your visual mashup?

In your blog, post a link to your mashup (or even embed it into your blog) and write about the experience:

• how did the collage-like aspect of the mashup work help (or not help) your creative capacity?
• did you enjoy the visual aspect--moving items around and creating a pleasing collage?
• what are the advantages to a mashup versus a written story on a topic? disadvantages?
• is Datamasher a great tool for writers? Or is it "lying with numbers"? Or "a cool way to get ideas for opinion papers"?