It seems like anything that world renowned storyteller Jonathan Harris touches we fall in love with… his newly launched project, Cowbird, looks to beautifully revolutionize the way we share stories online. Similar to a self-generated version of his Balloons for Bhutan, the brilliantly designed website aims to be “a community of storytellers, focused on deeper, longer-lasting, more personal storytelling than you’re likely to find anywhere else on the Web.”
So what does Cowbird let you do? It works as a way to keep a gorgeous diary of your life, to share and experience incredible stories by some of the worlds finest story tellers. It aims to help you participate in sharing the worlds ongoing sagas too, starting out with a feature on the Occupy movement, told by the people that are there on the front lines – an angle often overlooked by mass media. You can also include lengthy audio clips, telling the story of your images, your day, your life.
Using the convenient ‘story editor’ you can add photos, audio, subtitles, characters, tags, dates, locations, dedications, and more, and shape your stories into exactly what you want them to be. Then easily share links to your story on Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon or Tumblr. It’s a seriously slick interface.
To get a first hand look at the site, check out Jonathan’s personal matrix of stories, see the informative about page or request an invite to the new but quickly growing site.
Check out the beautiful photo and engaging dialog on Matt Prins’ story with Edmonton Canada resident Roland, in Shine the Light On It:
Through Cowbird’s ‘Saga‘ section, contributors can add stories about current events and happenings in the world… documenting the human saga in ways the mass media often overlooks. Here the site is currently featuring moving photographs and stories from Occupy events around the globe:
I like this site better and better!