Our stories are tagged, coded, blogged, uploaded, pirated, downloaded, retweeted, liked, and shared every minute of every day. They’re told across all mediums, beginning on one platform and continuing on another. The story goes around and around, retold with new perspective and renewed vigor. You can reach out at any time and grab a thread, pulling it out of the web like crystalizing sugar, finding a story frozen, then continued, in a different form of media than the last, with new characters added each time. Because hanging on to each frame, each story, is the audience at large.
We’re no longer “just listening”…
Indeed, the nature of storytelling has changed: The audience is no longer passive, they are participants in the story. They give the story it’s pace, like the gamer playing video games, choosing when and where to continue. It’s the interactivity of these stories, not gamification, that’s changing the way we tell them, and the string of platforms provide continuity to these stories.
People are social beings, and without other people then there’d be no reason for Web 2.0, or for me to write this. Millions of people tell their stories to each other every day, but the way we communicate these stories is changing. What started as a craft delegated to those capable of memorizing epics, became revolutionized by the written word, where the medium stagnated for some time. That is, until the pop-up book was invented and people realized stories did not have to be tied down to traditions. Soon, stories could be captured by photographs worth a thousand words, and then by films, assumedly worth billions of words. Today, we tell stories combining all of these elements, smashed together and facilitated with the driving force of interaction. Facebook is a storytelling platform, as are Twitter and YouTube, etc.
Embrace the story, or become history…
Mastering transmedia storytelling is key to keeping up with your audience in this social world. If you don’t, you’re going to get left behind, end of story. People like to be engaged, challenged even; If you don’t do this then they will grow bored with you. Utilizing transmedia storytelling is all about finding a way to bounce the conversation toward the audience, and it’s there in that interaction where the heart of the story lies.
There isn’t a story if there isn’t an audience to tell it to. Keep the conversation moving by searching #bridgeddesign on Twitter and sharing your own rich narrative!
Further Reading: http://johnnybtruant.com/storyselling-101/
Article by: Bridged Design – Follow them on Twitter @BridgedDesign