Comments on: Storytelling in Social Media

By: Storytelling Tips for Social Media

Storytelling Tips for Social Media — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:40:31 +0000

[...] client shared this post on Storytelling in Social Media with me and I thought I’d pass it on. Social media, and blogging in particular, have made it [...]

By: The Story Lady

The Story Lady — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:01:26 +0000

Thank you for this excellent post and for the opportunity to share some of my own thoughts and even a story. It is so exciting to read and hear so much about storytelling, and I agree it is useful for business (That’s what my blog addresses) and for nonprofits, but it’s not just “a marketing thing” to pull people in.

I might hook you with lessons I learned while training my own guide dog.
Hopefully the hook did its job. When I share that training my own guide dogs (Thunder and now Molly Flagtail) deepened my level of belief in the powers of the mind, you may be slightly intrigued, but you become more interested when I share the story of bringing my dog through her fear stage.

I raised Thunder from 9 weeks old, and once she had the basics (sit etc), I started taking her everywhere with me. She wore a training vest and I took her into stores and restaurants, onto buses, etc. When Thunder went through one of her fear imprint stages, all of a sudden she became frightened of the bus. We’d been on them dozens of times, but suddenly she cowered, shaking, beneath the bench whenever one rolled up.

Perhaps the natural first thought might be, “Oh no, what if she never overcomes her fear? What if she fails? I can’t keep a dog if she’s a PET…” But I could not give myself the luxury of those thoughts, even briefly.

I knew that my job was to hold unshaking belief in my dog and have no fear that she might fail. So I imagined her confidently stepping onto the bus and leading me to a seat, then just as securely leaving the bus at the journey’s end. I imagined her being a competent and happy guide dog with a constantly wagging tail.

That is what she became, and partly it was her good “raw material,” and partly it was my unwavering belief in her.

If this story touches you or makes you think, then I have employed the “mojo” of storytelling, which is to connect people. Because as the world becomes more “techie,” we all want to know that we are communicating with real people and not bots.

I am delighted to discuss storytelling and share stories with anyone. Blogging is, indeed, home base. Sharing connections through the social networks is also powerful.

I believe that stories change lives.

Thank you for receiving my story.
Warmly
Ronda Del Boccio, The Story Lady
@TheStoryLady on Twitter.

By: Tony Eyles

Tony Eyles — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:57:52 +0000

Great post thanks – i believe storytelling is as engrained in our dna as tribalism. Its a deep human impulse that will, sadly, be left unsatisified where people are alienated in antisocial environments. there are many lonely people, even in crowded cities, who are perhaps a little introverted or don’t meet common criteria for social attraction. Maybe this is one reason social media is so popular – we can satisfy our deep need for stories, in our own environments and yet with the ambiant intimacy we need as social animals.
The really interesting thing is where social media enables us to be different people.

By: Barbara Rozgonyi

Barbara Rozgonyi — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:26:10 +0000

In thinking about how we use storytelling in our business, I came up with this example . . .
Storytelling played the starring role in one of our most successful PR campaigns ever. By introducing a fund-raising event as a series of 16 chapters in one story, we sequenced the releases out, many as sub-events, over the course of several months. This was a few years ago, pre-twitter. I’m imagining how much more successful this what comes next approach with a twitter ID would be – for the organization and the community. Thanks for making me think, Richard.
@wiredprworks on twitter.com

By: Wayne Kurtzman

Wayne Kurtzman — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:42:22 +0000

Nicely done. I wrote about Storytelling from a slightly different angle at http://beyondthe.biz/2008/09/23/storytelling-20/ … including going back to “Put that down, you’ll poke you eye out”. Naturally that was from @Grandma.

Thanks for the good read!

Wayne

By: Jesse Luna

Jesse Luna — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:03:46 +0000

Great post! I think that one aspect of storytelling is how the story can live on beyond the reach of the storyteller. For folks who are just jumping into social media it can feel as if one is talking into an empty void, but there are people really listening.

After your post a couple of days ago, I talked to my wife about the concept of focusing on one’s intent and having a follow up of immediate action. I’ve also been practicing speaking my daily intent in one breath as you described in a response to my comment.

So thank you for sharing your stories and they are appreciated.

By: Darryl Parker

Darryl Parker — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:36:00 +0000

I found you commenting on the Chris Brogan site. I look forward to learning more via your insights.

By: Zoe

Zoe — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:23:31 +0000

Reading this post tied together so many little bits and pieces flying around my brain.

I like how you framed “channels” in the context of storytelling, rather than branding (the way it’s often used). It really highlights how social media can be exploited to explore new facets of storytelling…without compromising quality, as you say.

By: Harriet Wakelam

Harriet Wakelam — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:22:37 +0000

Great article – thanks. I’m fascinated by the idea of storytelling or narrative in making sense of fragments – I feel it’s what we’re genetically programmed to do… Everything from Homer to the Bible, so why not the rich and confusing ’snippets’ of the Internet.