Here’s a little story about Web 2.0 and Storytelling. Once upon a time, there was an 80s baby in a room full of millennials. Unlike her peers, when she was growing up, the internet was still a reclusive, mostly government and military project. She watched the world wide web come crawling and screaming out of dial-up servers and into desktops. Then came higher speeds & wireless internet and that is when the box really flew open. It went EVERYWHERE. This is what I would describe as the turning point in my generation’s modern culture. Storytelling was no longer a fortress of one way data. Every participant shaped the content, the medium, and the relevancy of the story. Enter the present.

We’re spoiled and we know it. The old internet, Web 1.0 if you will, wasn’t this interactive. And it wasn’t easy to participate in. I remember spending countless hours on my Yahoo Geocities webpage, just trying to personalize options that take me seconds to change today.  Whoever coined the term Web 2.0 has the right idea – it suggests the constant upheaval of what future technologies will bring. The web we now weave is more receptive and accessible than ever before. People are plugged into technology everywhere.  This creates a unique ability to create a sense of community. Do you even know anyone under 70 without a cell phone, computer, laptop, or tablet? What could we learn from each other? But to realize this potential, we need to know the tools. Which, for the most part, I’m learning that I have only scratched the surface.  I realize I will always be a student of technology, as it is thankfully never stagnant.

I can only speak for myself, but I could not believe how many ways people create the content on the web. The very stuff I consume so cavalierly. Like it or not, those LOLcats are part of my memory, my culture, my worldview even. All the more reason the idea of being proactive is really inspiring me to want to actually create and not just consume. But (cue dramatic music) the big question isn’t what I will create, it’s how will I go about creating it with all the options available? I thought I’d start by making one of the video-slideshows like so many I’ve watched on YouTube. It’s a bit crude, but give a newb a break, will you? I’m learning. I came up with a story idea, then researched creative commons images I could use for a slide show, and added music. Viola! Check it out below:

It’s short, but you get the point (I hope).  There are so many creative ideas in my mind, I feel like I could splinter into a thousand Samirahs. And I know better than to do that! Best to take on one life challenge at a time.

Us creative types, well, we just can’t help ourselves. I’m all for finding new ways to spend the hours of 11pm-3am creating random web art, and telling anyone who cares (hello… are you out there???). The point isn’t to create world peace, it’s to form a global community that’s willing to share ideas. And I don’t know about you, but I prefer my ideas fresh, not frozen.