I am currently enrolled in a graduate class at UHCL, Digital Storytelling. The first assignment is to make a blog post answering the question, ” What is digital storytelling and why does it matter to me?”. This is class blog/instruction link: https://uhcldigitalstorytelling.wordpress.com/
Digital storytelling is using digital media to relay information in an engaging manner. What is a story? A beginning, middle and end made up of events. What is engagement? Something that holds people in place or brings them back. we all can tell stories with words, ether on paper or spoken, but we also tell stories with social media. As we make post and add images to our timelines we are telling people the story we want them to see. A great example of this is the NFL player Antonio Brown was appears to craft one image on social media, but seems to have a darker side. https://theundefeated.com/features/steelers-antonio-brown-is-an-instagram-all-pro-but-is-that-the-full-picture/ If I post positive uplifting religious messages everyday people will begin to believe that I am a devout man. But it may be that in reality I am an atheist. We all craft our own narrative, we shape what we want people to see us as. This is done consciously and unconsciously, because most people want to be seen in a positive light.
Is digital storytelling important to me? Yes I think it is. I make a good amount of digital media. I have a blog I post in, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube channel, and many other various types of media I create for my work and school. I try to be conscientious of the story that I am crating. Is my media engaging, possibly, but I tend to make very dry videos and my ascetic is very stark. This is probably a detriment to my overall engagement, but I like the simplicity.
