Nice idea. I am almost doing this for myself privately (not in a good enough format to share) and already have seen some of those great stories. Your service seems pretty useful!
Very interesting idea! Storytelling is gaining popularity recently in teh app space, e.g. see web.mit.edu/bentley/www/papers/BentleyChowdhuryPoster.pdf, which is now available as an Android application.
I didn't quite like the orange-yellow on light yellow scheme, it makes the text hard to read.
But more than that, I have the following comments:
* The purpose of the site is not obvious at first glance, are these nice jokes, stories to be inspired at work, heart warming family stories, etc. I think focusing on one or more areas and making that clear in the entry page would be useful.
* I read two stories: the Ouija bored one and the Olive Garden one. They were, how to put this delicately, weak, the sort of thing your somewhat shallow colleague blurts out at the cooler which makes you hurry back to your cube. You need to get much better content than that, because once someone reads a few bad ones and leaves, they are not every coming back.
* Everyone loves to tell stories so it shouldn't be hard to get good content. I suggest you cold call some high profile people and ask them to submit a story. A story by Godin, Huffington, O'Reilly (both) or a famous writer would be great boost.Also, talk to people on the street, e.g. go to a homeless person begging for change and tell him you'll give him $5 if he tells you a good one. I bet one in five story would be really interesting. Check your local minor celebtities, e.g. TV people, etc. Go to an assisted living house and talk to the old people. Go to the hospital and talk to people.
* Stories do not exist in vacuum, if I'm moved by a story I'd like to know more about the person who told it. You should have storyteller profiles and better pictures for perople (at least initially not profile pics). Take them yourself while interviewing.
I think you got a great idea but you need better content.
I honestly feel stories are probably one of the biggest drivers of current growth. It's kind of cool to have a easy way to scroll through my friends and get an update of "oh, I guess Jeremy went on a hike; Monica is harvesting blackberries; etc"
I think type 2 fun makes for the best stories. So, if you tell those stories and many people enjoy them, then from a utilitarian standpoint, it could certainly be a good idea!
Have you heard of StoryCorp? [0] It's a nonprofit which sets up booths and recording equipment around the world, then records and transcribes intimate conversations between individuals and catalogues those stories in the Library of Congress so they can be found and remembered.
They have hundreds of thousands of conversations at this point. Pretty remarkable initiative, similar in philosophy to yours. Dave Isay, the founder, describes it as a "hope machine", kind of the opposite of reality TV.
StoryCorps also produces these 3-minute summaries of some of their more notable conversations, which cover the whole range of human emotion. Here's a funny personal favorite: https://storycorps.org/stories/betty-jenkins/
Thank you!! It's a slow process, but I'd love to make more. Some ideas I have are: Stories of massive growth/scale, Stories of horrific bugs/failures, Stories of mistakes/regrets, Stories of introspection (realizing something about yourself that changes the way you approach work). I'm particularly interested in stories of conflicts and mistakes -- I feel like people don't share them enough and they can be really fascinating, valuable, and relatable.
Oh that could be great, especially if there were someone (like the submitter, or just with the right personality) to get people talking.
Would hate for something like that ever to detract from the reading experience though - e.g. someone with something great to say or niche experience etc. tells their story then feels no need (or lacks the energy/motivation) to write it out again.
Hi Ian,
Welcome to Storylane, a place for great inspirational life stories. So that we can help you get started, here are some of things you can do on Storylane:
Share stories
Everyone has amazing life stories to tell, and so do you! Sometimes the only thing you need to get started is a good suggestion for some inspiration. Start sharing stories »
Ask anyone to tell a great story
Whether it's your friend or someone you look up to, everyone has amazing life stories. Storylane makes it easy for you to ask people to tell their stories. Find people and ask them for stories!
Save the ones you love
Storylane is full of great stories, and it's easy to discover those close to your heart. Show your love for great stories, save them for later and then get back to them in times of need. Find stories to love!
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Once you're logged in, it looks sort of like a Kickstarter full of... blog entries. Some could be considered actual essays while others have pretty much posted lists, extended anecdotes, there's an iPhone 5 review, etc... The main feature I guess is that you can cycle through prompts from an array of categories to give you something to write about. Of course in the early stages they're pretty hit or miss, but I imagine there is potential if users ended up carving out their own niches– you might start to see more things like "How did you start programming? What do you think were the most important things that helped you grow?". Of course they're just prompts, and you should be able to write about anything you want.
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