COMM0014 – Blog post #2: Becoming a Digital Storyteller

What is storytelling? How has it changed?

Storytelling gives people a sense of culture and personal identity by passing on personal, cultural, and historical experiences that later become shared experiences with those who are listening.

In a world of ever-evolving digital media and tools, storytelling now extends beyond written narratives, verbal communication, music, dance, and visuals such as rudimentary drawings on the walls of caves. Following the implementation of the printing press, mass distribution of literature became possible and storytelling was no longer confined to a single community, class, culture, or geographical location. We’ve witnessed this same effect from the use of the Internet and social media for digital storytelling today. Anyone with an electronic device and Wi-Fi or a stellar data plan can instantly share a story with the possibility of reaching millions of people. Their stories are now easily accessible and there are very few, if any, restrictions (unless you have top-notch privacy/security settings, of course).

All online content – whether an Instagram story, a Facebook status accompanied by a cheeky GIF, a video on TikTok, or a 280-character tweet – not only presents itself as a story, but as an opportunity to captivate and resonate with an audience on a much more rapid, larger-scale. It’s how you choose to express your story (a.k.a. your communication style) that will determine how your story is perceived by others, and the reach/engagement that follows.

The average reader spends more time skimming and scanning online content than the time spent reading the content in its entirety. Readers now have shortened attention spans with a heightened demand for finding the information; there’s now this, “I need the information and I need it…yesterday” mentality – so how do we keep our readers interested?

One observation of mine is that digital/online storytelling is producing a “less is more” shift. For example, we can communicate and express emotion with the use of a single emoji; we can describe how our work day by finding the perfect Michael Scott GIF and sending it to our peers in our group chat – there is less of a need/desire to provide the full details; we just want those who will listen to get the point immediately.

Captivating your audience

Clarity, conciseness, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and using the “right” tone are all very important elements to engaging your audience and producing credible, professional content. However, I also think it’s important to keep the following suggestions in mind:

• Keep your message relevant/relatable – doing so will allow for your content to resonate fully with your readers and instill an emotional and memorable experience for them;
• Ask questions – find out what you can learn from your audience in return and make them feel valued;
• Do your research – know who you’re targeting, what they like, find out what’s “trending” around a certain topic or subject that’s of interest to you and your online community;
• Make your content organized and aesthetically-pleasing – use headings, images, bullet points to break up your content and stay consistent throughout your platform(s);
• Don’t be repetetitive – keep your readers on their toes, give them something new/different each time you produce a story to motivate them to come back for more!

Most importantly, though, be yourself. After all, no one can tell your own story better than you can!