Author: terrien1

As this course comes to a close I wanted to share a few things I have learnt about digital storytelling throughout the last 7 weeks.

Here are 3 things:

1. The value of Messaging

Messaging is key in digital storytelling because it forges connections among people and between people and ideas. Adding personal touches into your story helps your audience relate to the story, ultimately giving the feeling of being more connected. Knowing your audience helps navigate how you tell your story. If you know the type of people your audience is this will help create compelling stories to increase social and emotional engagement with your stories.

2. The influence of Images and Graphics

The use of images and graphics in your digital storytelling is essential. This helps create a scene, vibe or mood that your story is trying to relay to your audience. Images can show us what a character or object looks like, graphics can provide the audience with data or just imagery and GIFs and Memes can tell a story without even using words. I love how the internet can connect using imagery as a form of communication

3. The importance of Planning

This course has shown me the importance of planning your story or posts. Whether you are just jotting down some ideas or nots on a notepad or using an online planning tool/calendar, I think it is extremely helpful. Planning ensures you have all the elements of your story in your story/post.

This course has shown me how much really goes into each post you see on social media. Whether it is a blog post, an Instagram story or an advertisement, there is a story that is trying to get through to their audience.

All stories need the 5 W’s to help answer the audiences questions.

The Who, What, Where, When and Why?

The “Who” is usually the main character of the story. This helps tell the audience who we will be following.

The “What” is the event of the story that is causing everything to happen, i.e. a plane crash.

The “Where” is where in the world is this taking place? This sets the scene for the audience, i.e. the library, in outer space.

The “When” is when in time did the story take place, i.e. the 1950s.

The “Why” is why did this take place? Give a bit of back story to the audience to help understand the character and what is happening makes sense.

Going back to the basics helps make sure you aren’t missing any key information the audience may need to fully understand the story.

Tonight I enjoyed a walk in the Edmonton River Valley with one of my best friends. We met at my apartment after work and off we went!

Our route was around 4.5kms and took around an hour to complete. We walked in the trails alongside the Victoria Golf Course, reaching the High Level Bridge. Then made our way down to River Valley Road where we saw lots of cyclists and other walkers out on a beautiful night.

We then walked through the Victoria Golf Course parking lot and saw people playing Cricket and golfers practicing at the driving range.

We then reached the end of our walk with the trek up the 2 sets of stairs. always nice to end the night with a little burn!

Come with me on my nightly #EdmontonRiverValley walk! #EXSM3989

— SydneyT (@terrien667) July 26, 2022

I am a crazy reality TV fan and I have always LOVED the Kardashian’s. I have been keeping up for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite things about this famous family is everyone knows them one way or another. They may know them from dating an NBA Player, a famous rapper or maybe even Kim’s sex tape. You either love to love them or love to hate them, I love to love them!  

Besides all the crazy drama that comes along with this family, I love the fact that lots of their real life experiences that are captured on their show are now well known memes around the world. One of my favourite memes from the show is when they are on a family trip to Bora Bora.

On this trip they are staying in overwater villas and Bora Bora is well known for their crystal clear water. There is a scene where they are fooling around in the water and Kim’s fiancé (at the time) Kris Humphreys playfully throws Kim into the water. At first she is laughing because they are just messing around but she goes to feel her head because he threw her in landing on the side of her head, and that is when she realizes that her diamond earring is gone! She starts to freak out and cries out “oh my god I’m going to cry my diamond earring”. She later states that this earring costs a whopping $75K. Her sister Kylie later swam down to the bottom of the ocean and because the water is so clear she was actually able to retrieve the earring!

This moment from their show has become so well known and popular that it has been used as the brunt of jokes and memes all over the internet. At the time Kim was extremely upset as she had just bought these earrings herself and it was one of her first ever extravagant purchases she made on her own. Now she can look back at this moment and laugh at herself with the rest of us!

This story just really shows how the internet can bring so many people together without you even having to know each other. You could just say the words “oh my god my diamond earring” and some people would know exactly what you’re talking about. That is what I love about the internet and that is also what I love about reality TV. They give us all these great lines to work off of.