The Lowdown is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
website developed by the
New Zealand Ministry of Health
The Ministry of Health (Māori: ''Manatū Hauora'') is the public service department of New Zealand responsible for healthcare in New Zealand. It came into existence in its current form in 1993.
History Origins
The Ministry of Health's origin ...
's National
Depression Initiative (NDI). The website launched on 3 December 2007.
Mission
The Lowdown aims to help young
New Zealanders
New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Aotearoa), colloquially known as Kiwis (), are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common history, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citiz ...
understand and recover from depression. It does this through online support services and testimonials from New Zealand celebrities.
Features
Navigators
The user can choose from one of four celebrity navigators who tell users how to use the website. There is also a "go alone" option.
Information and Help
The website has depression-related fact sheets and contact lists, as well as online self-tests.
Stories
The Lowdown has video of New Zealand celebrities and musicians talking about how they or someone they know made it through depression. Users can also add their own stories by submitting video or text.
Chat
Users can chat together in a style similar to a
bulletin board
A bulletin board (pinboard, pin board, noticeboard, or notice board in British English) is a surface intended for the posting of public messages, for example, to advertise items wanted or for sale, announce events, or provide information. B ...
.
Multimedia
Users can listen to
streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
songs from contributing musicians.
Interface
The website uses
flash
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Barry Allen)
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Wally West, the first Kid ...
built on
ActionScript 3
ActionScript is an object-oriented programming language originally developed by Macromedia Inc. (later acquired by Adobe). It is influenced by HyperTalk, the scripting language for HyperCard. It is now an implementation of ECMAScript (meaning i ...
. It uses the Sandy 3D engine.
List of celebrities contributing to The Lowdown
Musicians
TV and Radio
Other
References
External links
The Lowdown Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowdown
Internet properties established in 2007
New Zealand health websites