Telling your story using digitalHow to tell capture stories using

the tools in your pocket

Dr Jennifer M Jones, Media for Communities

Who?Lecturer in Service Design (Service Design Academy, Dundee)

Digital Media Educator & ethnographer. #open Web & social media, digital storytelling, events & citizen journalism. PhD #Van2010. Greyhounds. #jisc50social

● Research● Education ● Advocacy

(‘citizen journalist’)

“Digital Storytelling” as a service design tool

82 per cent of UK adults use the internet daily in 2016.

63 per cent of UK people are using social media. 2/3rds of those users use it everyday.

41% of social media activity concerns what is happening in the local area.

70 per cent log on using their phone while out and about. By 2017, 90% of the mobile phone usage will be from smartphones.

Young people would rather make content than read news. In 2016, of 16-to-24 year-olds, 65 per cent created and uploaded content while 66 per cent used a news site or newspaper.

From “prosumer” to “produser”... (Bruns, 2009)

“the increasingly complex relationships between news production and consumption, between the amateur citizen and the professional journalist, and between ‘news’ and ‘comment’ all require consideration in the context of the new media forms which frame these reconfigurations.” (Goode, 2009: 1304)

...when the citizen deliberately uses journalistic techniques and methods to construct & tell a story...

“Citizen journalist”

The citizen journalist’s swiss army knife? The smartphone!

“Mainstream” media Large media organisations who have access to events and wide audiences in order to influence popular debate.

Ability to set news agenda that other smaller organisations follow - work with political elites and corporate bodies to do so.

“Alternative” mediaNot for profit - Aim to advocate the interests of those who feel marginalised by the mainstream media.

Provide an alternative outlook on the world, making media that highlight what’s not being covered.

But what can we learn from media activists?

Capture and ‘amplify’ the wee

stories

Mainstream media and larger media outlets may miss the smaller stories, so you can capture them instead - often they get picked up.

All about highlighting what is missing and raising awareness using social media tools.

Events (like today) are a catalyst, people doing stuff together is part of the process, not the just the product - and is just as important.

Learn & pass it on Keep it simple, practice over the technology - the ability to record short, quick interviews that required little editing & big impact

By demonstrating how media is made, in turn, be able to deconstruct the elements required to tell a story using your smartphone

Humans of Glasgow (2014)

Lived experience

Capturing a moment

Simplicity

Every Story Important

Olympic Torch Relay (2012)

#citizenrelay

Digital Storytelling in service design context

Dundee and Angus College, From Good to Great All Staff Development Day #DAG2G 18th of August 2017

Task

Capture an interview in one take - so that you don’t need to edit it before being able to share it immediately online.

All about preparation Camera: Battery, hold camera steady, hold camera right way, airplane mode.

Light: Natural light, windows, strip lighting.

Sound: Noises, distractions, microphone.

Questions: What are you going to ask? Do you have permission?

Benefits of video60 seconds of video can convey more than 500 words of text, can save time but also illustrate work effectively;If you host on a content community like YouTube, you can embed the materials else where, increasing chances of people viewing; Can use your photos, audio and videos you’ve made in presentations and blog posts without needing copyright permissions;Chance to be creative, reach new audiences.They are very compatible with other forms of social media. You can embed a video in blog, share videos on facebook, draw attention to tweets.

“I don’t know what to upload!”

The opportunity to publish ‘anything you want’ can be daunting(!);Everyone’s story is important, your job is to find it and capture it respectfully and ethically;Try photographs at events, responding to other accounts;Digital Storytelling handbook.

Next stepsTry it out

Go and make a video about #SDGC17 process so far, think about how this can help you communicate your idea - try not to get bogged down in perfection - the process is as important

Upload to social media - and tag #SDNC17 + #digitalstorytelling, show off what you are doing in a creative way

@jennifermjones, hello@jennifermjones.net