Dispelling the myths about alcohol

by Julie Bratvold

Julie Bratvold home | Repurposing

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Myth 1: Coffee, a cold shower or making yourself throw up will sober you up.

Myth 2: Beer doesn't contain as much alcohol as hard liquor.

Myth 3: Eating before you drink will prevent you from getting drunk.

Myth 4: You can learn to hold your liquor.

Myth 5: Alcohol isn't as harmful as drugs like marijuana or LSD.

Myth 6: Alcohol warms your body.

Myth 7: Switching between types of alcohol will make you more drunk.

Myth 8: Alcohol makes you fat.

Myth 9: Alcohol makes you perform better in bed.

Myth 10: You can cure your hangover.

References

Preface

This site was developed out of a story I did for the Oct. 22 issue of the Northern Student. In its original print form "Dispelling the myths about alcohol" seemed awkward. It was too long and the information a bit too simplistic to merit an entire page in a newspaper. However, I still liked the information it offered and felt that the Web would be a fitting home for it.

What I changed

My number one goal with the Web site was to make it simple. I want readers to immediately know if my site can give them the information they want in a manner in which they understand. Therefore, my first task in converting the article to a Web site was to give each myth its own page. The main flaw of the print version was that it was so long that it looked daunting. By giving each myth into its own individual page I was able to make it reader-friendly while retaining nearly all of the information that was in the original article.

Navigation plays a major role in the simplicity of the site. I wanted my site to appeal to those who are looking for a specific piece of information as well as the readers who are just curious about alcohol rumors. To make navigation easy no matter what the reader's goal, I decided on sidebar navigation and a "previous/next" button at the bottom of each page. On the sidebar I included links to a description of each of the ten myths and a link to the reference page. The sidebar is designed for readers who are looking for specific information. They can simply click on the link that fits what they are looking for. I also numbered each of the myths in the sidebar so that the readers immediately know how many pages are in the site. The "previous/next" button is for readers who are browsing through the entire site. They can navigate through the site without having to scroll down to read the sidebar.

In the print article I numbered each of the myths. On the Web site I numbered the myths in the sidebar, but not on each individual page. I chose to eliminate the numbers on the pages because they weren't pertinent to the information I was trying to convey. The numbers on the sidebar tell the reader how many pages there are, but otherwise the numbers serve no purpose. However, I still help the reader know where they are on my site by bolding the myth in the sidebar when they are on that specific page.

In my original article I was inconsistent in the way I addressed the reader. Sometimes I used the word "you," while other times I used the newspaper style with terms like "one" or "people." For the Web site I decided to consistently use "you" when addressing the reader. Since my target audience is college or high school students, I wanted to be sure that the site wasn't condescending or preachy. The simplistic language and use of the word "you" gives the site a conversational, friendly tone of a peer rather than the authoritative tone of an expert.

What I kept the same

In the "Hot Text" textbook, Price says that when converting a print document to the Web you should cut the text by 50 percent. I, however, did not follow that advice. The vast majority of my original text remains on the site. I eliminated some of the excessive description and explanations, but by no means did I cut it in half. The information was fairly concise to begin with, it just needed to be presented in a different way than in the newspaper.

Although the Web offers my site to a massive audience, my target audience has not changed. I still tried to gear my information to the young reader who may not be familiar with alcohol. I kept the text free of complicated language so that almost any reader could understand.

Problems

I was unsure how to handle the reference page. I wanted to give credit where it is due, but didn't want to sacrifice the consistency of my site. I pondered using in-text links, but ultimately rejected that idea because I didn't want my readers to be enticed to leave my site. I decided on using a reference page with links to the sites I used because it not only gives credit to those sites, but also adds credibility to mine.

I was a bit worried that my page would be too bland for the readers. I thought about adding some sort of graphics or witty right sidebar, but didn't want to lose the integrity of my site. I decided against graphics because I was afraid that they would detract from my basic purpose, which was to simply inform the readers.

Conclusion

I think that the Web site is a much better home for "Dispelling the myth about alcohol" than the Northern Student. Whereas the original article was long but lacked the in-depth information that newspaper readers crave, the Web offers my information to readers who are looking for simple answers. I think that the site meets my goals of simplicity and navigability.