Author: Millicent Wong

 
Hot Dog: 101 –– A Dumb Name for a Smart Interactive Webcomic
For a majority of Americans occupied with daily life, the time and emotional investment needed to understand U.S. politics is simply too much. Why bother with dry, erudite articles filled with terms you don’t understand, when you could instead be doing something that’s low effort and high reward, like browsing social media, playing games, or reading webcomics?
“Hot Dog: 101” is an interactive webcomic that seeks to reduce the effort of comprehending political news for the average Internet user. It’s something of a prototype to test a research question I ask in my Social Science major capstone: how can front-end web development features be applied in practice to lower political information costs for working class Americans? So, don’t solely get distracted by the dumb name and cute doodles –– “Hot Dog: 101” is designed to integrate a strategy on three theories of media interactivity: technological, narrative, and social.
“Hot Dog: 101” features two sections of comics in different interactive forms: “the Daily” and “the Depth.” The first section covers daily headlines in four-panel comics with interactive web elements for sharing and learning, whereas the second section contains comics that are longer-form and implements game-like web interactivity to stimulate cognitive processing. “The Daily” is a webpage containing four-panel comics on daily headlines. Upon mouse-hover, assets may be animated (like a character within a panel) and more information will appear in a tooltip, such as context or citations. The idea behind this section of content is that this can be easily shared on social media: simple, static comics on daily news that some people may not have read had it not come across their feeds. “The Depth” will implement more interactive elements as it need not be created as frequently and will cover more information. Imagine reading a comic that reveals and animates as it scrolls, with opportunities to clock for more information and type input to interact with the system. Using React means that individual components can be easily integrated for a variety of interactive elements that don’t need to be hard programmed.
I take a webcomic approach because comic panels are static enough to be shared across platforms, but also versatile enough to integrate interactivity. Webcomics on social media are becoming hugely popular, offering readers a medium they are already familiar with. Furthermore, four-panel comics can be consumed instantly, unlike text or videos, and can also be made for long-form visual explanations. Webcomics are also extremely accessible narratives, they do not require specific hardware or even applications. Using a JavaScript UI framework ensures a browser-based experience (whether desktop, mobile, or even just on social media) and minimizes loading times or user learning curve.
The main character and mascot of “Hot Dog: 101” is Sam, a dachshund wearing a hot dog bun backpack, acting as narrator/host to the website. The design of Sam conveys an “all-american” and informal first impression, as well as emphasizing a simple, abstract cartoon style for universal appeal and relatability. Not only will readers find little offense in a cartoon dog, but they may also find it cute enough to create participatory works or to share social media posts (ie. social interactivity).
While there are many websites or applications out there to increase political efficacy and decrease information costs, these resources will still encounter certain pitfalls. Some remain too text-heavy, others create too much of an emphasis on partisan issues, or even the mere mention of “politics”, which will turn away a disengaged individual immediately. Video/visual political content also have problems associated with medium: news satire shows or documentaries demand too much of a time commitment; political cartoons are quick to digest, but are too topical and rarely educational; short-form videos like those of Vox or NowThis do not have narrative or humor to get viewers invested. This project is to attempt an unfilled niche, a political interactive webcomic, as another potential solution to lowering information costs.