In a sudden twist of good fortune, I’m presenting in place of my supervisor John Hartley at MIT4: The Work of Stories in May – this is the fourth of MIT’s Media in Transition conferences, which I’ve wanted to go to all along. The line-up looks great, should be an enriching few days for me, and a good chance to hook up with researchers and practitioners working in digital storytelling as well. John and I are working up the ideas together – here’s the abstract:

Digital Storytelling: New Literacy, New Audiences

Digital storytelling fills a gap between everyday cultural practice and (professional) popular media that was never adequately bridged during the broadcast era. Digital stories are simple but disciplined, like a sonnet or haiku, and anyone can learn how to make them. They reconfigure the producer/consumer relationship and show how creative work by non-professional users adds value to contemporary culture. The paper examines what is needed to bring out their potential, discusses some of the emerging initiatives that aim to increase their reach, and includes examples.