Storify
Introduction: Social media is full of credible and not-so credible sources on the latest events
locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. Videos, images, tweets, articles, posts, and more
appear in a variety of sources. How can one keep up with all this information?
Tool identification: Storify allows you to gather all social media material related to a specified
topic and create a narrative around it. Just type in a topic in the search area and click on a form
of social media. All articles written for that medium will appear. You can then drag them to
your storyboard, rearrange them, write text between them, etc. Not only can you browse
through what you have posted, but also what others have compiled. If you purchase the
enterprise level, you can collaborate with others. You do need to create an account, but this
tool, as the base level, is free.
How to get the tool: www.storify.com You will need to create a log in and pass word. Once you
are in, click “Create a New Story” on the top right. You will see the story area to the left and the
social media sites to search on the right. You can click and drag tweets, facebook posts,
Youtube videos, Instagram photos, etc. about any topic.
How to use this tool:
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Have students follow a company or industry and see how they are portrayed in social
media.
Pick a current event and build a story around it using mentions and images from social
media.
Choose a theorist or public figure and search that topic, building a story around that
person.
Search for discussion on an event in the past. Of course, this may be limited to the
length the social media has been around, but there may still be photos and articles
available about the event.
Conclusion: Storify is a wonderful tool to gather information posted on Social Media into one
source. Many news institutions already use this tool, such as CBC, Al Jezeera, and Poyntner.org.
Use it as an assignment or as a source-gathering tool in your courses.