"Here's My Story, and You Can't Take That Away from Me." Exploring How Authenticity Leads to Connection through Digital Storytelling

Background and Purpose: The circumstances generated by multiple pandemics over the last three years increased the necessity for accessible spaces where racialized youth could engage in critical dialogue to promote wellness and social change. Grounded in peer engagement and collective dialogue, digital storytelling (DS) is an arts-based process that allows participants to develop and authentically share stories based on their unique experiences. The goal of this study was to explore the use of DS to create a safe space where youth voices are valued and amplified, to articulate the impacts of these pandemics, to foster a sense of community and shared purpose in a youth-adult-partnership, and to encourage the engagement of other youth in their communities through DS.

Methods: Purposive sampling was used to engage ten participants affiliated with a university-based, youth-focused research lab (eight student and/or youth researchers and two adult academic researchers), which was founded at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project began with a DS workshop, facilitated by an organization that uses the 7-step DS process designed by the Center for Digital Storytelling, which emphasizes connections built through a story-circle format, literacy and technological skill development, and group-based dialogue and idea-sharing. Following the workshop, participants and facilitators engaged in a focus group-styled debriefing session and individual interviews to generate insights about the collective experience and the process of developing and sharing their own digital stories. Interviews and the debriefing session were audio-recorded, and verbatim transcripts were qualitatively analyzed using constant comparison, based on grounded theory approach. Analyses were conducted collectively by four team members and progressed in three stages: open, axial, and selective coding.

Results: Foundational to youth researchers’ experience in the DS workshop was the belief that “power and control remains in the hands of the of the storyteller, no matter what.” The capacity for creative expression and control over their own stories contributed to the impact of DS on their personal development and growth. Participants described how DS “actually gave them some tools” and the skills they developed inspired them to think about additional opportunities to convey their experience. Creating their stories was rewarding and brought joy, provided catharsis and validation related to the experiences they were narrating, and allowed them to “embody and live as a counter-narrative to anti-Black racism.” Participants described how the DS workshop increased confidence and helped them consider how their “voice has power.” These experiences generated and sustained community connections, both within the lab and with the extended community, including loved ones. Participants described the potential for their stories to have an impact on the wider community and how “digital storytelling can really be more revolutionary” by highlighting counter-narratives and providing a voice to marginalized experiences and identities.

Conclusions and Implications: When meaningfully and intentionally tailored to support youth and cultivate youth-adult partnerships, digital storytelling shows promise in exposing youth to creative methods for better understanding and expressing themselves and representing their communities. Digital storytelling may also bolster youths’ agency and engagement in actively leading meaningful social change.