Tokoni is a story-sharing site that’s about a year old and has ties to eBay (investments, plus its founders were eBay execs). I like Tokoni as it offers features that could easily keep one absorbed for hours. The full “about us” description of Tokoni appears below, but here are my likes and dislikes:

1. I love the ticker that runs across the bottom of the screen. If you see a story title crawl by that catches your fancy, you can click on it. Of course, doing so led to one of my dislikes — I had to register on the site before I was permitted to “engage” with a chosen story. I supposer that is the way of the social-media world, however.
2. I like the story prompts or “requests” that users post. A few samples:
• Just wondering if anyone else on tokoni is into Crocheting?
• stories from caregivers of elderly parents
• I would like to see stories about how people overcame their own bad parenting to go on and become good parents themselves.
• Me gustaría ver historias en Español
• I would like to see personal stories from other quilters.
• I would like to see stories about what we as women can do beyond voting to change our world for the better
3. Tokoni also has a featured story prompt, one presumably suggested by the staff. The current one: “Does your family have a tradition of giving back during the holiday season? What will you do? Share your story.”
4. I like that the site has both story collections and story hubs, though it’s not easy to discern the difference. I believe collections are stories on a single topic by a single person, while hubs are interest groups in which multiple people tell stories on a single topic.

5. I like the fact that Tokoni features “must-read” stories on its opening page. I also like the Tokoni promotes a spirit of helping through stories — providing lessons, comfort, inspiration, etc.
6. I’m fascinated by, but don’t totally understand, Tokoni’s Bubble Browser. I think it shows connections among Tokoni users and/or their stories. See illustration at left (you can barely see the faint blue lines connecting these avatars).

Tokoni’s “About Us:”

At Tokoni, we believe everyone has a story to tell.

Whether it’s a family vacation you enjoyed thoroughly, a headline news event you witnessed personally, a health issue you overcame, or your journeys through the everyday trials of child rearing, you have a first-hand experience that’s worth sharing with others.

Why? Because stories help people. Your mother’s insight, teacher’s point of view, friend’s joke, or grandfather’s recollection — just think how these voices of experience have been a source of comfort, guidance, entertainment, and education in your life.

Now, imagine these meaningful stories of first-hand perspectives, recollections and knowledge shared with a global community, one based on honesty and respect. Consider how valuable it would be to post your own accounts for the benefit of others. Think how worthwhile it would be to read personal points of view from people all around the world who’ve “been there, done that.”

Welcome to Tokoni.

The Tokoni Story

We launched Tokoni in late 2007 to enable people to share stories and experiences within a vibrant and open community, where individual wisdom is celebrated and collective knowledge is valued.

At Tokoni:

The authentic act of shared storytelling is powerful. Life’s diverse stories are intrinsically entertaining, informative, influential and inspiring. Beyond just the facts, Tokoni stories allow people to explore places, events, issues and points of view with greater understanding and appreciation.

Stories are as rich and diverse as the lives people live. There is breadth to the subjects and depth to the content on Tokoni, giving people one-stop access to various communities of diverse interests. Collectively, the power and passion of individual voices of experience make for a complete resource, minimizing the need to participate in numerous online blogs, groups, and forums.

People want to connect with each other online in a more meaningful way. Unlike fragmented blogs and message boards where mostly one-way, narrow conversations are taking place or online social networks where people interact superficially with friends and acquaintances, Tokoni is an open community that helps people connect over shared experiences that matter most to them.

Everyone has a voice that should be heard. Tokoni members cultivate an inclusive and vibrant community where honesty and respect are honored and stories are shared, recognized and valued.

We welcome you to be a part of Tokoni where members can:

post personal stories and experiences on the site — be they compelling, cathartic, funny, helpful, inspiring or even absurd — that can inform, entertain and help others in a way that only first-hand, human-interest stories can do

browse or search the site by category, hub, member or story to access the voices of experience to many of life’s diverse happenings

create a “collection” of stories, like a personal “play list,” to group favorite stories or accounts from the same “life episode” (i.e., wedding stories, family stories, travel stories, etc.)

connect with other members over shared stories of interest and experiences of others

post comments and reward tokens to liked stories and authors

link stories to hubs where groups of people can share stories and join discussions

follow other users’ stories of interest

enhance personal posts by uploading videos and photos for an even more comprehensive story