Transformation of Traditional Storytelling using the Internet of Things

Author –Aarushi Singh

Designation – Assistant Professor
College-Kccilhe ,Greater Noida
ABSTRACT
The new medium to revolutionize the whole concept of Journalism can be credited to the
evolution of Digital Media. Concept of new digital age story telling methods has transformed
the whole idea of traditional story telling methods. The information highway is so effective
that all mediums have been affected to a great extent .The smart phones have changed the
media landscape. By definition Story telling is an way in which the communicative and
interactive art of using words and actions is revealed to the elements and images of a story
while encouraging the listener's imagination. With accepting web and internet technologies,
the news media is ready to accept a third revolutionary wave which is called as
technological wave populary known as the Internet of Things (IoT). It has already
disseminated to various areas , through new devices based on the concept of artificial
intelligence. One of the most highly affected areas by this new media wave will be that of
Media houses information.
With this research, I am trying to analyse how the impact of IOT has changed the concept of
storytelling by various case studies .
This paper will map the rise of storytelling methods in Journalistic Mediums .Case study
method has been opted for this paper.
Keywords: Story Telling ,Internet of things , Journalism , New Media .
Introduction
The word storytelling speaks for itself. Storytelling is about telling stories. It is about using
stories to engage your audience, or to make something more clear. Photos, pictures and film
of course really help to tell a good story too.Stories have always been a way to communicate.
Before people learned how to write, they would tell each other stories. Stories are much
easier to remember than simple facts. That’s why Wende from the story remembered the
planets. Also, stories are enjoyable; they stimulate your imagination. That’s why parents tell
their children stories. That’s why we like to see movies and read books. People love stories,
people are addicted to stories.
Evolution of the story telling
Storytelling has been around for thousands of years. Humans tell stories as a means of
entertainment, communication and passing down information from generation to generation.
It’s in our nature to tell stories, but the way we tell them has changed due to advances in
technology. As Jonathan Gottschall said, “The way we experience story will evolve, but as
storytelling animals, we will no more give it up than start walking on all fours.” From rocks
to computers, here is a brief history of storytelling and storyteller marketing.
Visual Storytelling
From drawings in caves to hieroglyphics and petroglyphs, the earliest forms of storytelling
were visual. Our great, great ancestors used stone, clay, wood and other natural materials to
communicate, create art and pass down information about life and survival. These visual
representations were effective ways to tell their stories, but it wasn’t easy to spread and share
their message like it is today.

Oral Storytelling
Oral storytelling has been around as long as the human language. Songs, chants, poetry and
myths were all passed down by word of mouth. The invention of radio in 1895 dramatically
changed how stories were told. Now oral communication wasn’t just between individuals; a
storyteller could address an entire audience regardless of their physical proximity.
Digital Sorytelling
Today, podcasts are the latest and greatest when it comes to oral storytelling. With a variety
of topics and formats, listeners can easily consume information that they are interested in.
There is a podcast for everyone, whether you’re interested in business tips, murder mysteries
or political events. The Internet has drastically changed how we tell stories.
Netflix and Hulu provide a plethora of entertainment options 24/7. You no longer need a TV
to watch them—just pull up the app on your phone! Whether we realize it or not, we are
constantly telling and consuming stories.

Storyteller Marketing
Storytelling has become an integral part of marketing. At its very core, marketing is about
telling the best story—the one that keeps people telling it and talking about it for years.
Rather than just pushing out marketing materials, businesses should look at marketing as
storytelling, offering quality information on a consistent basis. Whether that’s through blog
posts, email newsletters or social media, your story is ongoing and should have consistent
messaging.
Storytelling in the Age of Print Media & Electronic Media

After the printing press invention during 15 th Century, the stroy telling came in thr form of
printing press and the traditional method was also left to the people as children use to listen
stories at the bed time thorugh storyt books and images . This era witnessed a huge growth
and popularity of ideas with photographs. Be it storybooks or the fictional comics to the
moral upliftment, every section of the audience like the idea of blending the story will some
pages. Storytelling through print have still captured a huge fan following. Be it the kids
comics or fictional books to horror or thriller to adventure the storytelling through books are
immensely popular.

Storytelling in the Digital Age

Storytelling has modified itself as per the need of the hour or as the development of media
and its forms, the digital transformation of storytelling started with the invention of
computers and internet and in the 1990’s the era of digital storytelling began. Digital
storytelling can be defined in many ways in different aspects, digital storytelling is a process
involving telling stories and sharing information through multimedia (Armstrong 2003).
Multimedia includes images, video, narrative, soundtracks, and digital media. Mellon (1999)
defines digital storytelling as the application of multimedia software techniques to the telling
of stories.
According to the Digital Storytelling Association (ASA) digital storytelling is “the modern
expression of the ancient art of storytelling…using digital media to create media-rich stories
to tell, to share, and to preserve. Digital stories derive their power through weaving together
images, music, narrative and voice, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to
characters, situations and insights” (Digital Storytelling Association, 2002).
In other and simpler words storytelling can be described as the ancient art of storytelling
blended with the digital technology, where the author uses photographs, graphics, animations
mixed with the authors own voice.

Importance and use of storytelling for human development

Being one of the most integral part of human life, storytelling has been used for human
development including storytelling in education, storytelling in communication, storytelling
in health and psychology and many more.
Education
“The real power behind digital storytelling is the knowledge and ability to use tools to teach
the old traditions of storytelling” (Standley, p. 18, 2003). Storytelling has a significant place
in classrooms from the beginning storytelling has been used as a tool to pass on knowledge,
information and wisdom from one generation to the other. It is not only used for
communication purposes, but also has been used to teach literacy skills, cooperative learning
skills, critical thinking, and to build knowledge of different contexts (Mello, 2001)

Health
Many studies have proved that storytelling used with the ill patients have drastic results,
many patients with psychological illness have been healed with the help of stories and in
many cases it has speedup the process of healing of the patients

Communication
Storytelling in information and communication technology has not only gained popularity but
is equally important as through storytelling the author/speaker can easily get connected with
the audience. Storytelling has been used for communicating with the masses for uplifting the
community and for its development.

Different case study to know how digital era has changed story telling methods
1 . Brand Promotion

Think about Apple. A brand that’s well-known for its advertising, Apple offered up a
masterpiece in digital storytelling with an ad released in early April 2020, not long after
COVID-19 gripped the nation and the world. Rather than focus on selling Apple products, the
ad showcased how we can still connect, communicate and create even if stuck at home —
albeit with the help of Apple technology. The main thrust of the ad, however, is a uniting
vision of humankind finding new ways to express themselves

2 . Bring technological advancements like artificial intelligence and virtual reality into the
conversation and brands have enormous opportunity to tell compelling stories. If you’re a
soccer fan, you’ve likely heard of Manchester City. The English team is among the most
popular in the world, and now has a next-gen stadium tour to back up its brand prestige.

3 To honor the club’s 125th birthday, Manchester City announced a tour of its Etihad
Stadium that uses 3-D holographic content, augmented reality and a 360-degree cinema
screen to immerse guests in the experience.

4. Data-fuelled storytelling
By the year 2020, experts predict that a notable 1.7 megabytes of data will be created every
second for every single person on the planet. There is a host of data available at our
fingertips, and, by leveraging this wealth of digital insights, it’s possible to to create highly
visual, engaging, and targeted stories that speak to your target audience on a personal level.

5. Customer-driven storytelling
In the digital age, the customer isn’t only right, but is also empowered, leveraging a hyper-
connected online community that shares thoughts, feelings, opinions, ideas, thereby
eventually influencing the buying decisions of others.

6. Social storytelling
81% of millennials check their Twitter feeds at least once a day. What’s more, on a regular
day, Snapchat reaches 41% of 18 to 34-year-olds in the United States alone. And that’s just
the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Immersive brand storytelling
As the new age dawns, the everyday adoption of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality
(AR) technology will rise significantly.

Discussion
The research paper was based on many informal interviews and discussions with children of
above 18 age and a 50 year fan of storytelling . Both have their unique way of analyzing
things . With the experience of an 50 year women I came to know that it was not that tough
for him to adjust to technology . But the essence was missing of traditional media . One of the
respondent was also a professional counsellor and during the discussion she admitted that
through storytelling she has helped many of her patients to open up and fight depression and
same issues.

Conclusion
Story telling has come all the way from traditional to digital media .Historical development
of storytelling has changed the notion in the mind of people be it in any form . It has a
flexible which cannot be ignored, that’s why irrespective of the complications of the
technology storytelling has always adapted the new phase and have blended in it perfectly.
The study also reveals that storytelling has use in education, health and communication that
will lead to overall development of the nation.