Doing this project was a learning experience for me and it clarified certain things, as well as raised questions.
Creating a Joe Lambert style Digital Story is actually quite challenging, and contrary to what I previously believed, allows for quite a bit of creativity and personal touch. It requires reflection, self-awareness, and a journey into your thoughts and emotions.
In creating Part 1 I gained a new respect for Joe Lambert’s ideas. In order for me to actually create the product, I had to think about how I understand myself and how I can help the viewer understand how I understand myself. His formula impels the maker to recognize an arc and communicate it. In doing it I realized that without knowing it, I already had an arc on this part of my life living in my mind.
An interesting difference in Part 2 on social media, is that social media creates context. We see the reactions of connected individuals, and it puts the creator’s thoughts and feelings into a real world setting.
Part 3 came off as the most awkward to me. I did it solely for experimentation purposes. I wondered if each piece of social media content were explained with voice-over, would it be valuable or shed unique insight on the storyteller? For some reason, it came off as the least honest and sincere. Perhaps because the voice-over almost seemed defensive as it was a response to what had already happened.
Overall it seems that Part 1 came off as the most positive because it allowed me to explain my thoughts and experiences, and only required context in in my own life and mind. It seems difficult to dislike someone if you understand why they think what they think. Part 2 displayed content within a social context which offers some honesty. Part 3 seems mostly reactionary and less natural, almost aggressive or propaganda like. I explained to people how to understand my social context.
My questions going into this project:
1) Does social media tell a story?
2) Can an individual voice-over in social media create insight, or become a tool? Does the voice-over validate the content or confuse it?
3) If social media cannot tell a story simply by being, can we use it to piece together something valuable and honest in an individual mind? Is it self-aware? Is it too self-aware, to the point of fabrication?