Storify: altering storytelling techniques

I’ve read blogs and books that experiment with story structure and storytelling techniques. When I ran into Storify not too long ago, I knew it would change storytelling for me. It gave my writing new pathways into alternative narratives and plot structure.

If you are a hard news journalist, you know how severely formulaic your pieces can become if you let complacency seep into your routine.

Here is an example of a great storify piece from UPI on the debt debate.

Storify example of UPI's story on the debt debate

Storify is a social media and information tool that drags Snippets of information – like tweets, blog posts, articles, photos and videos- into a storyline.

It’s not a new concept, but Storify let’s the user create an annotated piece of virtual nonfiction by allowing a writer to provide evidence like a broadcast journalist would.

What I mean is that Storify presents written evidence in a visual storytelling way. An “author” (or really a social media editor) can be an integral role in a story, or let the information completely dominate the piece and speak for itself.

I haven’t used the service yet, but I see the potential, and I’m biting at the bit for a good story to come along to fully see its potential.