Got much faster response to my one-question survey query this time around, and not a single spammer yet. A critical mass of four responses is what I aim for before publishing results; however, I think I’ll leave the current survey up for a while to see if others want to respond.
The question is: Are we in the Golden Age of Storytelling? Why or why not? The responses:
No. The Golden Age of storytelling is yet to come. Business people are just now discovering that telling stories about what they have accomplished is far better for building business than facts. Also, with the advent of Social Media, people are telling the stories of their lives and fabulous storytellers are emerging every day.
— Sally Strackbein
I think we are in an age that is rediscovering storytelling…the marketers have found it, alas for storytelling! It is going viral. But you may remember that Taster’s Choice years back had a commercial that was a mini-soap, and certainly the Geico caveman ads are storytelling of a sort. Does that make it a golden age? I’d rather think that it brings storytelling mainstream into consciousness thus expanding opportunities for everyone to recognize story, that it is told, that it has a teller and an audience (sometimes the same person’s head), and that it can shine a light on darkness and clarify confusion. If storytelling become more than the latest gimmick, then it will, indeed, become a golden age.
— Tammy Vitale
No, we are not in the golden age of storytelling. Yes, storytelling is receiving a lot of attention, particularly in books about storytelling. A future generation will determine whether this is the golden age. Yes, there has been a resurgance of storytelling in the last 30 – 35 years, but that does not mean the quality has improved. It’s like poetry. There are more people today who claim to write poetry than ever before. In fact, one can get a master’s in writing poetry. On the flip side, fewer people are reading poetry. In fact, if a book of poetry sells 3,000 copies that is considered good. So having lots of people write poetry does not make this the golden age of poetry. When future generations look back this will probably be the golden age of the personal story. More people are sharing their personal stories than ever before. In fact, some novelists have turned to writing memoirs because they are more popular with the reader. Reality TV, as much as I dislike it, is a form of personal storytelling. It’s like the short story and the novel. Now and then someone gets the bright idea that the form is dying out only to have it come back again. So, no, this is not the golden age of storytelling, just a resurgence of the form.
— Harley King
No, storytelling transcends fad moments. We are in the golden age of the overuse of the word “storytelling” to describe all communication. We are in the golden age of everyone adding “storytelling consultant” to their resume. Storytelling will outlast with or without those of us who dare say we understand its power.
— Sean Buvala