Today’s webpage is an initiative by CNN to get people to share their stories about the main 30 events that occurred during the past 30 years. Readers can send in their personal stories, photos and footage about the various events. The overall concept is to combine “personal snapshots with original news footage that will shine a new light on the moments that changed our lives as well as our world”.
The events range from the Hong Kong handover, the Chernobyl disaster and the fall of the Berlin Wall, up to more recent events such as the release of Nelson Mandela, the September 11 terror attacks and the death of Michael Jackson. Yes, these may not be the 30 most important stories, and even CNN admit that, but they claim that the events chosen till now reflect a range of big stories that moved the world. Nonetheless, users can still submit their own suggestion of other events which they deem should be included.
The user interface is quite pleasing, with a timeline showing the various events along the past 30 years. Clicking on a particular event will provide you with the user submissions about that particular one. So if you have your own personal story about a particular event, perhaps some photographs or even your own personal video footage, you are encouraged to upload them to the webpage. You can even share your own personal memories so that we can all reflect on our shared history.
Check out 30 stories, 30 events, countless stories here.
