What does... "ScrollyPub" actually mean?
In his column "What does... actually mean?", Benno Maggi looks at terms from the marketing and communications sector. This time he deals with the term "ScrollyPub".
What wonderful flowers the marketing jargon always produces.
The latest example: ScrollyPub. It sounds so cute and sweet that it simply has to be loved - just like a newborn baby. ScrollyPub is the grandchild of scrolling and storytelling, whose non-binary child Scrollytelling has now given birth to a new word with the droll name ScrollyPub. Don't know it? But you should. And please use it as often as possible so that the other person knows that you are up to date.
The relationship shows: But even the latest shit comes from somewhere. So let's delve deeper into the genealogy of the new industry baby. Let's start with the grandparents - even in real life, grandparents have long since learned how to scroll. It's been so long since the word entered the dictionary that the acronym EDP is actually still listed under "use". Electronic data processing. Do you remember? Scrolling actually means "moving" in English. Today we mean that the display on the screen cannot be captured in its entirety and should therefore be moved around the screen in sections. There are evil tongues that claim that the higher someone climbs in the hierarchy, the more their ability to scroll decreases. And with a story like this, we are already at the next ancestral part, storytelling.
When the content gets lost in all the scrolling
For a long time, this term was only reserved for writers and film and theater makers before it conquered our industry. It was about dramaturgy, rhythm and complex storylines that captivate the audience or readers over a longer period of time. But if something has neither a beginning nor an end, neither a plot, starting point nor a payoff, then it is not a story, but merely a string of facts, wishes and requests from a sender to a receiver. And the sender hopes that someone will understand what is being conveyed. The fact that a story can be told in just a few words was already known before TikTok and Snapchat: "For sale. Baby shoes, never worn." This famous story in six words is attributed to Ernest Hemingway. Is it true? That too is storytelling.
Scrollytelling now combines "scrolling" and "storytelling" and describes a journalistic format in which readers experience a story that builds up dynamically by scrolling. This can be done using graphics, videos or interactive elements. All of this is intended to enhance the reading experience and enables complex content to be conveyed in a visually appealing way. So much for the activity. "ScrollyPub" is now the place where scrollytelling takes place. Not in a dimly lit pub where lukewarm beer is served and sports broadcasts are shown on screens and darts are thrown at a target. No, it usually refers to publications (or publication formats) that use scrollytelling techniques. In a ScrollyPub, stories are presented in formats that are geared towards new reading habits, especially those on the screens of mobile devices. Unfortunately, with all the multimedia excitement and attention, the content is often forgotten and it is questionable whether the little content that is still available is retained with so much experience.
* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.
