The
first time I truly encountered Digital Storytelling I was 21 years of age, back
in 1994. This may make some blink and
wonder, how can one encounter Digital Storytelling in 1994? Let me begin by stating there was no
Facebook, Shutterfly, or even Twitter back then. What we had was AOL Instant Messenger and its
associated blogs, and during that time period AOL was the dominant force, via
the blossoming digital world, for connecting people.
A friend, college I was
attending, mentioned that there was a roleplaying forum based on the table top
game of Vampire the Masquerade; and to be honest the idea of roleplaying with
unknown people via the internet fascinated me.
I spent a few years roleplaying
with the group of VtM on AOL Instant messenger and also their forums, but
eventually this group lead me to online game playing, and virtual worlds.
By
the time my oldest daughter reached the age of 13, I thought I was pretty savvy
with being able to browse the Internet, play online games such as Everquest,
Everquest2 and World of Warcraft. My
daughter made me understand, differently.
Cassie had discovered MySpace and created her own forum there. She was posting not only stories about her
and her friends lives, but she was adding music videos as well and other
artwork. I had no idea she was even able
to understand this, let alone create something as intricate as she had. Her own forum inspired me to attempt to
create my own. Grant you my forum was
never on the par as she was. How can a
mom who had never had training in this, let alone even understood blogging and
concepts like MySpace hope to be equal to what I had seen? After a few months
to almost a year of attempting MySpace I finally gave it up, returning to where
I was comfortable with gaming.
As
comfortable and secure I felt within the Gaming Community I could not help but
miss actual RP like I had with VTM; the ability to tell stories and become someone
new. A friend of mine, who had played
with me since Everquest all the way through World of Warcraft, approached me
with a new venture. This adventure was a
virtual world created by Linden Labs called Second Life. I had never heard of Second Life until that
moment, and so intrigued by all my friend had to tell me I created an account,
downloaded the app and began playing.
I
was soon to discover that Second Life was a new digital outlet for people to
roleplay with avatars they create and modify to be as they wish them to
be. I also quickly discovered that a
person gets so wrapped up in what they are doing they lose track of which is
reality. Where the average person
is stressing in reality about, home, job, who said what, kids, partnership with
another person, all this was taking place in the virtual world. In fact one could say these same stresses
were being amplified within the Digital Reality of Second Life.
To bring this back
around to the subject at hand: “What does Digital Storytelling mean to me?” I think it is both complex and simple. The simple comes from everyone having a story
to tell. As Joe Lambert stated in
Chapter 1 “Life and death, moments of clarity, decisive events that change us;
these are not just the subjects of life recalled, these are the essence of our
oral traditions of myth and folktale, our literatures, and in the last century,
the immersive medias of the screen and recorded sound.” (8) He goes on to explain “We first know story
through our experience, but the stories told us become part of our tribe, our
community, our culture, and are formed into myth and archetype.” (8) Who is to say that the story I post today
will not inspire someone to write a tale, or even to post a similar story on
their blog? This is how and why the
storytelling aspect is easy, because we are surrounded by stories. Each person is the Bard of his or her own
life experience.
The complex comes
in not only using the tools and keeping up to date with the tools, but having the
courage to post said story and share that tale with others around you. One of
the most inspiring quotes comes from Chapter 4, where Lambert states “…Overcoming
silence, overcoming the sense of defeat and disenchantment that comes with oppressions
social and personal, is a solemn commitment. They remind me that sometimes this
comes with sacrifice. No one said the
road would be smooth.” And so I keep at
it, whether I post fictional or nonfictional tales, each story comes from
me. It is a part of who I am and I am
using the internet to share these tales.
Reference:
Lambert, Joe. Digital
Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community. 4th ed. New York:
Routledge, 2012. Print. Chapter 1, pp. 8, Chapter 4 pp. 36
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