Web2 storytelling


Web2.0 Storytelling

 

Alexander & Levine (2008) believe that as a result of Web2.0 technologies we are seeing the development of new forms of storytelling.  They identify two essential features of Web2.0: microcontent and social media.  Web2.0 storytelling is considered to be a social process involving the generation of microcontent using multiple media forms; the social interaction element means that stories can evolve through time, with different routes through a story and with changing perspectives.  This approach re-engages digital storytelling with elements of the storytelling tradition and its iterative and social nature.  Important within this is the principle that stories - or these chunks of micrcontent - are made available for resuse by others.  Alexander & Levine recognise the role that digital storytelling has had in the classroom, particularly as a means of supporting the development of a range of literacies (Ohler, 2008), though they see Web2.0 storytelling as broader and the next stage.  They do, however, recognise digital storytelling as one of the potential mechanisms for generating microcontent that can contribute to this new form of storytelling.

 

Does this suggest that digital storytelling is a transient form?  The development of digital storytelling from its origins in the 1990s and the way that it has been adopted and amended illustrate how it is an evolving form.  Web2.0 developments are part of this continuing evolution, providing even more options for alternative ways for story generation and dissemination.  So where digital stories in the Center for Digital Storytelling tradition represent a fixed product, they can also be considered as examples of microcontent that can be resused in a variety of ways.  It is also important to recognise, as identified by Alexander & Levine (2008: 54), that the use of Web2.0 storytelling might be influenced by scale and that the practices of Web2.0 storytelling are important.  In this way using digital storytelling as a social process which leads to the final production of the story - i.e. the microcontent - makes use of these Web2.0 practices.

 

Some of the new tools that are available for the creation of digital stories will directly support Web2.0 storytelling; for example, VoiceThread (http://www.voicethread.com) allows the sequencing of audio with slides which can then be published on the Web.  Once published it is possible for viewers to add a commentary, through text, audio or video.  Other Web2.0 tools which could be used to generate stories or digital stories include mapping and timeline tools.  For example, through the use of mapping tools such as Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) virtual tours can be created, individually or collaboratively.  Timeline tools such as xtimeline (http://www.xtimeline.com) or dandelife (http://www.dandelife.com/) allow creation of timelines to which images and text can be added, along with links to blogs and RSS feeds.