How to use Storify

How to use Storify

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Agenda


• What is Storify?

• Why should we use Storify?

• When should we use Storify?

• How to use Storify

• Storify takeaways

• Conclusion

• Questions? Comments?

What is Storify?


Storify is a web-based tool created by journalists for

social media curation. It is a website that helps you

tell stories in a timeline/narrative format by sorting

through and choosing posts from social media,

such as Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.

• You decide what in the flood of information matters.

• Storify can be the story but more often we will use it

either as a placeholder until we can get the news and/or

to enhance a story by embedding it within our article on

our website.

What is Storify?


What is Storify?


STORIFY EXAMPLE: http://storify.com/KO_Reporter/kayla-harrison-wins-judo-gold

http://storify.com/KO_Reporter/kayla-harrison-wins-judo-gold

What is Storify?


“We did not intend for people to just throw together

social media and create a scrap pile of tweets. The

name is ‘Storify’ because it’s about making stories.

It’s about changing how journalism works to

acknowledge the fact that everyone on the ground

is potentially your eyewitness, and it’s about

empowering journalists to draw from that source

material.”

-- Burt Herman, Storify CEO and co-founder

Why should we use Storify?


• Storify can add new angles to a story you may not otherwise have; it can show emotion connected to an issue in a way an objective journalist can’t always convey.

• It has been proven in the field to be easy to use, to enhance our coverage and to spread virally on social media, which exposes us to new readers.

• It puts us on many of our readers’ turf. It shows we’re playing on the same playground (Twitter, Facebook, etc).

Why should we use Storify?


• In a sea of social media posts, you help the reader sort through it all and highlight the information that adds value to their experience.

• We can’t be everywhere all the time. Let the eyes and ears of our readers help tell a story, especially when we can’t, and in their own words.

When should we use Storify?


Top national stories

Pop culture

Weather

Big local issues

(…but check Twitter first. You can’t Storify if social media isn’t talking about it.)

SAMPLE:

http://storify.com/WickedLocal/hurricane-

sandy-blows-throw-metrowest

http://storify.com/WickedLocal/hurricane-sandy-blows-throw-metrowest

When should we use Storify?


SAMPLE STORIES:

• Local judo Olympian wins gold

• Constant helicopter activity alarms residents

• Local boxer to fight at Gillette Stadium

• Bears in two areas of state

• Python found in yard

• Flags banned at condo, people outraged

• Election turnout

• Hurricane Sandy damage

• Blizzard Nemo damage

How to use Storify


1. Create an account

Use a paperwide username and email address.

How to use Storify


2. You may want to poke around Twitter first to see if there even IS a conversation going on around a topic.

3. Log in to

Storify.

4. “Create

Story.”

How to use Storify


The left side of the screen is your timeline. The right side is where you find material.

5) On the left: write a headline in the first

box. Write an intro in the second box. You

could include the URL to your site’s story or

the homepage at the end of your intro. (for

those visiting from Storify)

headline

intro graph

How to use Storify


6) On the right hand side, work your way through the various social media sites.

• Plug in a keyword. Hit return.

• Drag the posts you want to your timeline.

• Save occasionally.

How to use Storify: Finding content


Twitter: This usually yields the most content. There are sub-options such as “User,” which is where you can find a Twitter account by user name. Find local items by plugging your town, state into Near… and choose a radius.

Facebook: You can intersperse the Facebook posts with the Twitter posts or drag them all at the end of the timeline and rearrange the order later as you decide how to present things.

YouTube: Take the time to watch the video. You can drag it to the timeline, watch it and delete it if you decide it’s inappropriate.



Flickr: This is where you can find photos to break up text if you didn’t already get some out of Twitter and Facebook. You can only see captions after you’ve dragged on to the timeline and even then they aren’t always that informative. Just delete the photo after if you decide not to use it.

Instagram: Search by hashtag. This doesn’t typically yield a ton, but folks tend to tweet their Instagram posts, so you may find the photos over in the Twitter search.



Google: This searches Google for websites. You may want to use whatever the official site is for whatever your topic is. Or a link to your homepage.

Embed URLs: This is intended for when you have an embed code (such as from polls or maps). You can also use it to post a staff photo from your site (right click on photo, “copy image location”, paste in this embed URL spot). Play around with it.



Think of all those elements you just gathered like you would quotes in your notebook.

Now how should you string them together?

What story do these elements tell?

How to use Storify


7. Organize the elements in a way that makes sense to a

reader from top to bottom.

Chronological?

By topic?

Weaving thoughts together?

As you’re gathering the posts, it will start to make sense how

you should present them.

To move posts around, just click on one in your timeline and

drag and drop it to where you want it to be.

How to use Storify


8. You should add text between posts or chunks of posts to tie

everything together. As is the case with all social media, don’t

be afraid to have a lighter voice (if the topic calls for it).

How to use Storify


To add text, simply

hover between posts

and a box pops up

asking you to “Click to

add text.”

Type your text.

How to use Storify: Notify


9. When the timeline looks the way you want it to, click Save

one last time. Click Publish.

The first time you click this, a box

pops up to “Notify.”

Storify automatically lists the people you included in your timeline and lets you notify them that they’ve been “quoted.”

This is a good practice, especially

for Twitter, because they often re-

tweet that notification which links

your Storify and exposes people

to your site if you included posts

in your timeline.

How to use Storify: Share


10. After notifying Twitter accounts that have been “quoted,” you

can view your published Storify. The next thing you need to do

is to “share” your Storify story.

Click “Share”

to post to

social media.

How to use Storify: Share


A box will pop up with your sharing options. To share your story

on Twitter, click the Twitter button, and so on.

How to use Storify


11. The next page is pretty useful. It’s where you get the embed

code, a URL link and later where you get stats.

You will find the URL at the top of the page, in the browser

window.

You can also click on Edit to make changes.

How to use Storify


CLICK TO GET

EMBED CODE

COPY FOR URL

SHOW TOTAL

VIEWS

FYI-Stats listed in Storify usually don’t align with the article’s Google Analytics. They’re fun to track anyway!

How to use Storify: Add to Saxo article


1. Copy the embed code out of Storify.

2. In Lite Editor, click on the HTML button.

Click “HTML” button to open pop-up editor.

How to use Storify: Add to Saxo article


3. Paste the code at

the end of the

article text.

3. Click update at

the bottom left of

the pop-up box.

4. Post story as

usual.

Storify takeaways


1. Check Twitter first! You can’t Storify without buzz.

2. Be proactive – ask your Twitter followers to comment on a

topic. Give them a #hashtag to use so you can find their

Tweets (by plugging into the Search section). Tell them the

best ones will be included in a Storify.

3. Notify people that you “quoted” them. It’s gratifying for those

you had invited to know their post was used, and it alerts

others of your existence. Then they re-tweet!

Storify takeaways


4. Don’t have a scrap pile of Tweets. Organize them like you

would a story, adding text among the posts to move the

narrative along. At the very least, consider headers or

section labels.

5. Try to build the Storify soon after the event – that’s when

you’ll easily find “original” posts and when the conversation

will be hot. But if you poke around and don’t see a lot of

buzz, check again later. Sometimes it takes a bit for people

to react.

Questions? Comments? Ideas?


Carlene Cox

Director of Newsroom Development

[email protected]

(630) 310-9567

@Cox4GHM

Nicole Simmons

Regional digital editor, GH- New England

[email protected]

(508) 626-3923

@Digital_Nicole

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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