Compelling narrative remains the most
important ingredient in effective communications. Modern day story telling
takes many forms, ranging from episodic television, movies, traditional print to social
networks to E-Learning, web sites and digital channels. While each has a unique
delivery mechanism each remains tied to the technology for which it was
designed …the one thing they have in common is the need to engage an audience
to gain awareness for any given message. Each contributes in some small way to
our social consciousness- perhaps one channel or medium more than another but
all have their impact on our understanding of the social fabric we live in.
In
reality we are immersed in a kind of, communications soup, each of us is
absorbing information in different ways, at different times, all while
we unconsciously weigh each of these mediums based on our need for narrative
context; and this helps to create our personal emotional understanding of the world around us - filtered through out emotional lens. One recent study suggests that fully one third of Americans get their news through Facebook.
Powerful narratives utilize our primitive
instincts such as fear, sex and love to tap into our unconscious desires and drivers.
Advertising advice has, for years,
recommended selling on emotion - just check out any car commercial – pride of
ownership, bold and exciting, sexy lines and performance. In new media such as
social networks and e-learning we continue to seek and interact with compelling
narrative and developers are gradually modifying the interactive experience and
the technology that drives it to mirror that more primitive emotional
experience we long for and are conditioned to seek out and leverage our desire for a more emotional narrative experience.
We are creatures that are at the mercy of
the human condition, and for all our technology and sophistication we continue to
seek out those influences and basic emotions at the heart of storytelling that
define our social interaction. Technology moves ahead in starts and fits to try
and respond to the user’s experience, more often failing as a result of the
parameters of technology. What does it all mean? It means we are governed by
hundreds of thousands of years of evolution and that we always prefer powerful
narratives that encourage all of the senses.
We have extended out social networks today in
our technology, through tweets, pintrest, linked-in, etc., we are adding a new
layer that speaks to this social narrative. Our ability to absorb information
still rests on the shoulders of our ancestors through powerful narratives and storytelling
– the more we can simulate this experience through layers of technology the more we engage and enjoy the
experience. It adds a more fluid dynamic
to how get our information, more closely mirroring the narrative experience. What
it tells us is that we are only in the very early days of truly engaging
interactive learning and understanding; and that technology must conform to our
desire for a more primitive and encompassing emotional experience.
