Furthermore, after reading this article, it provides me an overview to explain how to apply organizational storytelling principles to content creation, online advertising and music video. We can see many dynamic formats such animation, music video and online news followed these principle. For instance, this music video “kiss” includes an explicit setting, vivid characters (can readily tell the occupations of them), a clear plot (the man finally becomes blind in order to let girl see again), details and a back story. I could easily understand what it talks about although I totally don’t understand Korean! When designing a web site, designers could follow up these elements to create content via text. Thus audiences won’t  feel confused with disorganized information.

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According to the statement from Philippe Borremans, IBM successfully uses social-media tools for internal communication as well as improves employee engagement. Compared to traditional media, which are one way channel, it is more effectively to convey message, share opinions, and share photos via social media, which has the concept of web 2.0 and user-generated content. Social media facilitate collaboration and sharing between users; moreover, social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video, so it is easier to express ideas. Also, everyone can participate for editing content, so social media built up a two-way channel for employees and employers to communicate with each other.

However, although social media are used by many company for internal communication, there are still risks existing for using social media. First, in my opinion, I think it is not suitable for every company to apply social media on internal communication. It’s not appropriate for small-scale company. Using social media build a social networking among employees and break geographic boundary. It is useful global or big company; nonetheless, using E-mails or making phone calls is more effective and efficient to internally communicate for small company. If they use social media for internal communication, they have to manage the message board or blog for example; furthermore, maybe employees don’t have opinion to share. Thus it only wastes resource. Setting up external communication channel like bogs may be more useful for small company.

Besides, if there is no a good management, the internal opinions may be revealed. Moreover, for instance, the message board may be a chatting room. Employees may use blogs to gossip. As a result, good management and education for employees are important.

Qs:

1. How to effectively manage internal communication channel?

2. Accept the risks mentioned in article, is there any disadvantages to use social media for internal communication?

In Taiwan, there is a very famous and popular Bulletin Board System used by college students, called “PTT”, also having the largest membership base in Taiwan. One of the most popular extracurricular activities among college students is go accessing PTT to post something or find some solutions to problems. There are hundreds discussion boards categorized by functions, so I added some functional boards to “My Favorite” and assorted them according to various functions. Most users heavily rely on the information of PTT because of its complete management and abundant resources. Also, the information flows quickly among users so they can easily get information without obstacle.

Three years ago, I was seeking about medical information due to surgery need, so I started to search information from PTT. Finally I got desirous information and then made decision to do the surgery. I trusted the information is because information providers’ previous experiences, as well as clear and complete information.  Furthermore, it is easier and more convenient to get information online especially when you want to know about medical information. If you want to get professional information from an expert, you have to make appointment and then allowing you to consult the expert. However, you may waste time and money. If you also refer to others opinions and previous experiences, you could acquire more knowledge about your condition and I think it is helpful.

On PTT, every master of each board has the authority to forbid geeks to post articles and delete untrue information; besides, board master would collect valuable information to specific area allowing every user to view. Moreover, only original author is able to edit his/her own article in order to avoid mixers to mess up.

More and more people rely on online information instead of TV, radio or newspaper. In my opinion, I think a self-controlled community to manage a web site is one of elements to create credible and valuable information. Once users find the source of information is unclear or information is stolen from other web site, they can report to webmaster and then web manager would correct it, so more and more believable information could be accessed.

In my own definition, I think flash is text or static words becoming dynamic and may go along with audio track. I check the definition from Wikipedia, it says that “flash refers to both the Adobe Flash Player, and to the Adobe Flash Professional multimedia authoring program. Adobe Flash Professional is used to create content for the Adobe Engagement Platform (such as web applications, games and movies, and content for mobile phones and other embedded devices.” In addition, “the Flash files, traditionally called “Flash movies” or “Flash games”, have a .swf file extension and may be an object of a web page, strictly “played” in a standalone Flash Player, or incorporated into a Projector, a self-executing Flash movie with the .exe extension in Windows. Flash Video files have a .FLV file extension and are utilized from within .swf files.” (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash ) So now I understand what flash means but how flash applies on journalism and makes it interactive with audiences confuse me. The article “Flash journalism: Professional practice today” by Mindy McAdams integrates many professionals’ sayings but doesn’t obviously explain how implement it. Does it mean audiences could play journal flash anytime they want or make their own journal flash on the homepage? I think it is interesting if audiences could view news via podcast by flash format in order to feel participatory.

Flash has already been applied on journalism, and we can also view some news from Youtube (does it also provide another for audiences to view news with flash format?). However, as an audience, I often see animation in theater. Except the visual feeling, the emotion is heavily revealed from voice over. “Animation has become part of the way we tell stories online. It’s an option we use to give more credibility and reality to the piece,” said Juan Thomassie. Thus, in my personal project, I want to use pictures with audios (voice over by storyteller) to tell their stories and editor (like me) can retrieve information they want to show by dubbing and then reedit. I found a cute French song accompanying with picture to tell puppy love story.

(From Kiss, J-entercom)

Moreover, I also found a funny clip telling a story from origin to end with matching lyrics to scenes to memory Christopher Reeve. It’s another way to tell a story.

The article “The Elements of Good Storytelling” from Kimberly Appelcline is easy understood and read. She illustrates how to tell a good story with five basic elements. I am doing my personal project containing documentary videos this quarter, what I am really concerned is how to attract audiences’ attention and keep them to constantly view your story. For instance, how to make conflicts and contradictions in your story is a way to encourage audiences to pay attention to your product, but creating an interactive storytelling interests me. As a picture-orientation person, I think pictures more impress me than words do, so I think not only text but also pictures facilitate audiences remembering information when designing website.

Furthermore, after reading this article, it provides me an overview to explain how to apply organizational storytelling to content creation. Also, I would like to know how these principles applies to digital content creation or online advertising. I will make an example for the next post.

References

1. Gershon, Nahum. (2001) What Storytelling Can Do for Information Visualization. Communications of the ACM . 44 (8), 31-37. Retrieved April 28, 2007, ACM Digital Library from http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=381641.381653.

“Storytelling allows visualization to reveal information as effectively and intuitively as if the viewers were watching a movie. A well-told story conveys great quantities of information in relatively few words in a format that is easily assimilated by the viewers.” This article explains how to present information into visualization with some principles.

2. Schneider, Oliver. (2003) Storyworld Creation: Authoring for Interactive Storytelling. WSCG. Retrieved  April 29, 2007, from http://wscg.zcu.cz/wscg2002/Papers_2002/D67.pdf.

It talks about the approach to authoring of non-linear stories applying to related work such as computer games. It introduces how to design an interactive storytelling in digital format.