Storify Tutorial

Storify is a website that allows users to collect media from social media websites, compile into a

story, and publish and share online. A “story” is essentially your written analysis along with

social media examples.

Getting Started

Go to storify.com and click “Login” in the top right corner.

Click “join now!” and create an account using your Facebook, Twitter, or email address.

Creating a Story

Once logged in, click on “Create Story.”

Then type a name for your story in the top box on the left. In the box below that one, type a

description for your story. The last box is where you still type your story and include your social

media examples.

Searching Social Media on Storify

The box on the left is where you can search to find social media. The first tab allows access to

existing media on Storify.

You can search from the top stories in the first “Search” option by either searching through all of

the content, including specific quotes, or looking for specific images, videos, or links. You can

also browse through media from your own collection or other users’ stories.

You can even search for elements from a story by typing a specific username and the title of the

story as it appears in the URL. You don’t have to include the part of the URL before the

username.

Searching for Examples on Twitter

You can search for examples on Twitter with the second tab. It will ask you to connect to your

Twitter account, so you can collect examples from Twitter. This authorizes your account;

otherwise, you won’t be able to collect any examples.

You can search content on Twitter by using keywords in a basic search. This will include tweets

that contain the keywords searched. It will do the same if you search using the “Images.”

You can search for content on your timeline or type the URL of another timeline to see their

tweets.

You can also search for a specific user with the “User” tab by typing in a username.

Searching for Examples on Facebook

To search for examples on Facebook, click on the third tab. You will be asked to connect to your

Facebook account in order to search for any media.

With the “Search” option, you can use keywords to search all Facebook updates. This will give

you any updates that include the words you’ve searched.

You can also include comments from Facebook in your story and search for them by including

the URL or the post ID. The post ID is the number in the URL when you click on a specific

Facebook status.

Searching for Examples on Google+

The next tab allows you to search media on Google+. The “Activities” option allows you to

search all Google+ activities. This will show you any posts that have the keywords you’ve

searched.

The “People” option allows you to search for a specific account by typing in a username. This

will show you accounts associated with your search term but will not show you specific

examples from that account.

Searching for Examples on YouTube

On the next tab, you can search for examples from YouTube. With the “Search” option, you can

search for videos on YouTube that are about your search term.

You can also find videos uploaded by a specific user by using the “User’s video” option.

Searching for Examples on Tumblr

To search for examples on Tumblr, type the URL of a specific blog.

Searching for Examples on Flickr

To search for examples on Flickr, you can either search for any media related to your search

term, or search for a specific account by searching their username.

Searching for Examples on Instagram

The next tab allows you to search for images uploaded to Instagram. First you must connect with

your Instagram account; otherwise, you won’t be able to search for examples.

After you’re connected, you can use the different options to search for examples. With the “Tag

search” option, you can search for images by specific tags.

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You can also search for images by specific locations with the “Location search” option and for

specific accounts by using the “User” tab.

Other Search Options

You can also search for other content on the web by using the Google tab. Like with

Google.com, using this tab on Storify allows you to search for general content on the web, for

news, and for images,

You can also search for specific images on the web with the GIF tag. This allows you to search

for visual media on Giphy or Google.

If you know the URL of a specific example you want to use, you can find it on Storify by

clicking the tab that looks like two connected links. In the search bar, just type the specific URL,

and it will give you your results.

Customizing Your Tabs

You can also customize your tab options by clicking on the plus sign beneath the existing tab

options.

This will open a new window. On the left are the sources you already have tabs for. On the right

are some other sources that you can add to your tool bar. Click and drag your options between

the two lists to customize your options. Click “Save” to save your changes.

Google Chrome Extension

For some, it might be easier to go directly to each social media website and look for examples

there. Instead of using options on Storify.com to find social media examples, you can use the

Google Chrome Extension to find examples as you search each platform.

First, go to Story.com/tools. Then click the “Download it now” link beneath “Chrome

extension.” This will download the extension for you to use when searching social media

websites.

This tool will come in handy as it may be difficult to find difficult examples using Story.com.

For example, you can’t find specific Facebook posts using the website. You also can’t search

Pinterest or other social media websites that aren’t already included.

To save a specific example, go to its specific page by clicking on the example. Then right click

the example. On the drop down list, hover over the “Storify” option, then either choose to

“Storify this image” or “Storify this link.”

A box will appear that allows you to control where you save the example. You can either save to

your private collection or create a new story for this example. It is easiest to save it to your

private collectionbecause then you can add examples to a story you’re already working on. Click

“Storify it.”

To add examples saved using the Google Chrome extension, go back to Storify. On the Storify

tab, click on the “My Collection” option mentioned earlier. Type in your own username to search

for media saved to your private collection.

Using the Bookmarklet

If you don’t use Google Chrome, then the Bookmarklet is the better option for you. Visit

storify.com/tools, then click and drag the “Storify this” button to your bookmark bar. A new

button will appear.

Next go to a social media website. When you’re there, click on the “Storify this” button in your

bookmarks. A message will appear letting you know that a Storify button has been add to that

page.

After you’ve received this message, continue to look for specific examples you’d like to include

in your story. When you find one, click on the “Storify” button located on that specific post.

Here are some examples.

Using either the Bookmarklet or the Google Chrome extension are best ways to search for social

media for your story.

Writing Your Story

You can add your examples to your story by clicking and dragging whatever media you would

like to include.

You can add text by clicking above or below your examples. A box will appear that says, “Click

to add text.” Doing so will make a cursor appear where you can type your story.

Clicking on or hovering over your examples or text will allow you to make changes to that

specific part of your story. If you want to delete something, then click on the X that appears.

You can customize your text with the tool bar at the top. Clicking on the different options allows

you to bold, italicize, underline, or strikethrough different text. Clicking on “Header” allows you

to create formatted headings within your story.

You can even embed links by clicking on the two interconnected links in the text tool bar. First,

select the text you want to hyperlink, then click that tab. A box will appear. Here you can type

the URL of the link you want to embed. Then click enter.

Saving and Publishing

As you write your story, it is important to save your work. To do this, click on “Save Now” at

the top left of the page.

To publish your story for others to see, click on “Publish.” Only do this when you are finished

with your story.

You can go back and edit your story after publishing it though. To do this, click on your

username at the top right. On the new page, click on the “Edit” link right above your story. This

will open your story to the page where you made changes before.