Digital storytelling sites are similar to each other, however, the content and purpose of each site are rather different and presented to attract the attention of diverse visitors. Lambert argued that a person’s initial efforts at story making can be frustrating because the author of the story has to find a way to construct an emotionally compelling personal tale. As the review of the four digital storytelling sites revealed, the best digital stories are created by individuals who did not prepare or planned the content. Thus, the resulting stories were unique records of the interesting moments from the life of ordinary people.
BBC website provides digital storytelling. Taking into account that the initial purposes of the site are informative and educational, digital stories are devoted to delivering important information (news, for example) and educational content. Moreover, bbc.co.uk is focused on professional content. In particular, it is mentioned on the site the digital storytelling project “requires commitment for, as well as all the technical stuff that must be learned, scriptwriting, picture editing, and performance skill are also needed and these have to be worked on.”
The second project is titled Digital Stories For Change. As the author of the site noted, the project is the online meeting place for community digital storytelling advocates and facilitators. Thus, the purpose of the site is to educate all interested visitors on digital storytelling. The project is non-profit and public: any person of any age can join the team and upload his/her own digital stories. Moreover, site visitors can leave comments and express their opinions on presented stories. Notably, some of the digital stories are created by children.
DigiTales is the third example of the digital storytelling project. According to the site owner, the project provides information on digital story-making steps and tools. There is a rich gallery designed to inspire beginners. In general, digital stories are devoted to traveling and lessons learned in the long journeys. However, the project is interesting to review not only for travelers but also for people who enjoy episodes about nature. The site allows merging “the ancient art of oral storytelling with a palette of digital tools”.
The final project is EngenderHealth has the purpose of creating change in society and delivering quality health care in the poorest countries of the world. The digital stories present first-person narratives about the lives of poor people in Africa. “These digital stories are being shown in training and public community screenings throughout South Africa, to promote the MAP Network’s efforts to involve men in ending gender-based violence and preventing HIV and AIDS.”
One of the stories presented on bbc.co.uk gained my attention with the simplicity of the plot and depth of the content. It is the story created by Chelsea Slater, a student from Yale College[3]. The title of the story is “All Happy” and it is told in the first person. Slater recalls her childhood, her ‘perfect family, and the divorce of her parents when she was only 6 years old. The digital story has a strong emotional appeal to all adults because many people have lived through the divorce of their parents in early childhood.
Moreover, Slater succeeds in presenting such emotions as fear, pain, suffering, and love to both parents. In particular, Slater shows that everything in her life was divided into two: two Christmases and two birthdays. At some moment in her life, Slater felt special and luckier than her friends. Even though the beginning of the digital story is rather sad, Slater decided to add an optimistic conclusion: “I have a bigger and better family now. It is all happy and I love it.”
According to the classification of digital stories, as provided by Lambert, Slater’s video is the character story. “How we love, are inspired by, want to recognize, or find meaning in our relationship to another person or even pet, is deeply important to us” (Lambert, p.5). Slater’s story is powerful in its ability to resonate emotionally because it is told in the first person. Even though there is no interview in the story, there is no feeling that the author is reading off the paper. On the contrary, the direct communication creates the impression that the story played a very important role in the life of the narrator.
In conclusion, digital storytelling allows presenting episodes of life from personal perspectives. Moreover, digital stories appeal to the senses better than print media or television. Print media does not allow presenting the story in motion while television does not allow presenting the news personally. Thus, digital storytelling creates an opportunity to present stories personally and emotionally. The reviewed sites devoted to digital storytelling revealed that digital stories have no limits in terms of audience and every person can find the story that appeals to his or her own emotions.
Works Cited
BBC. 2008. Web.
DitiTales. 2008. Web.
EngenderHealth. 2008. Web.
Lambert, Joe. Digital Storytelling Cookbook. 2007.
Stories For Change. 2008. Web.