newsonaut

Turning inner space into outer space

May 19, 2012

Four ways you can make Storify tell a good story

If you want to create a good Storify, then you need good content. Here are a few tips based on what I’ve learned along the way so far:

When using Twitter as a source, it’s often a good idea to fill in the spot for “Near.” This is handy if you’re searching for something fairly generic that could be found anywhere in the world. For example, there is a controversial proposal for mine near Kamloops called Ajax. But of course, Ajax could refer to any one of a number of things that have nothing to do with the mine — a Dutch soccer team, for example. By limiting searches to near Kamloops, I’m much more likely to get relevant material.

Another handy search is your own handle. We go by @kamnews, so a search for this brings up all the messages people have sent us, many of which are comments on stories we have linked to.

The Disqus tab is handy because it allows you to go through the comments on your website if you use this service. Just use the name you set up for yourself in the Disqus dashboard. With some lucky guesses, you might be able to dig into the comments for other sites as well.

Don’t forget that the ultimate way of getting content into Storify is by using the Storify This button in your toolbar. Navigate to anywhere on the web, sweep the content you want, and click the button. It will the show up in your Storypad with an icon from the site, if possible.

If you have any tips of your own, don’t be shy about sending them in. I’ll share them in a new post. And you can alway contact me via @newloops on Twitter.