The two sites I’m going to compare and contrast are WITNESS and the Center for Digital Storytelling because, of all of the many sites we’ve looked at, they seem to have stuck with me more. Not quite sure why, but perhaps as I write my paper it’ll become clearer to me.
Both sites tell people’s personal stories, and a big part of their respective missions is providing people the tools (skills) necessary to tell these stories. Yet in the case of WITNESS, the goal is to transform personal stories into “tools for justice, promoting public engagement and policy change.” The Center for Digital Storytelling, meanwhile, seems to exist solely as a means of helping people create and share deeply personal stories.
I need to work out exactly which concepts and themes from our reading can be applied to these sites. Certainly, spreadability – but hopefully Saturday’s meeting will help me better flesh things out.
Mike,
I just looked on the CDS blog:
http://storycenter.org/blog/
And it looks like the methodology (which in many ways could be connected to Scribe’s work with Precious Places) leads workshop participants to further story explorations and creations (books, films, articles, etc)…and to link them to organizational initiatives like “All Together Now: Civil and Human Rights Intergenerational Stories.” Also their own community-based initiatives…
I see many fascinating overlaps from Witness to CDS and Scribe’s work among disenfranchised communities.
Also how they are using the “WEVIDEO” webinar tool for online workshops to make videos for a variety of uses:
http://storycenter.org/wevideo-webinar
Mike you could also use some concepts from “Digital Culture” since the author talks about how governments dealt with technology through history. That might apply to some stories in Witness where governments are annoyed by technology when it means spreading out videos that expose their ugly side of violating human rights.
Exploring the intersection of personal storytelling, advocacy, and the power of narratives to evoke change promises to be a compelling exploration. As you navigate this terrain, the unique qualities of each platform may become even more apparent, shedding light on their respective contributions to the digital storytelling landscape. Best of luck in unraveling the intricacies of these sites and articulating their significance in your upcoming paper!