1,000 Days of Syria
June 4, 2014 9:15 AM   Subscribe

He tells you he is one of the martyrs now. He tells you it is not safe for you to stay in your apartment, that soldiers may come soon. At any moment. You agree. It is time to go. You don't have the leisure to cry now over Ali's death now but you are eternally saddened. You pack only the most essential belongings for yourself, Emad and Yara. Before you head down the stairs with your children, you take one last look back at your home and whisper, xaatrak to yourself. Goodbye.

1,000 Days of Syria is a "choose your own adventure" historical fiction newsgame, in which you live the first 1,000 days of the Syrian conflict through the eyes of one of three optional characters. Guardian article, wiki, trailer.

Mitch Swenson is a travelling journalist, having documented conflicts from Syria, South Sudan, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, and now Ukraine. Here's his report of his experiences in Syria. He was prompted to create the interactive account when upon returning to New York, he was perturbed by people's lack of interest in the ongoing bloodshed, stating, “I heard that nine times as many people clicked on links to do with Miley Cyrus than the war.”
posted by alon (3 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
this is an interesting way to learn about the conflict, especially about unarmed citizens are going through. hard to believe that this has been going on for so long.

“I heard that nine times as many people clicked on links to do with Miley Cyrus than the war.”
Heh, this post has been up all day, and yet I'm the first one to make a comment how many hours later?
After a while people lose interest, I guess. Sounds horrible to say, but one just gets desensitized from all the helplessness.

What can you say or do? nothing.
No one to blame. No debate to have. No good vs. evil, just a lack of empathy all around.
posted by bitteroldman at 4:17 PM on June 4, 2014


Great stuff!
posted by jjmoney at 4:24 PM on June 4, 2014




« Older "not far short of 50% have come into the language...   |   The World Cup of World Cup 2014 songs Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments