This post is brought to you by Christina DaCosta, Online Media Manager for SAGE. Christina will be teaching a 4-week course titled “Sharing Your Story Through Video” for LGBT older adults in the NYC area, as part of SAGE Story. SAGE Story is a national digital storytelling program for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. The purpose of our program is to strengthen the storytelling skills—and draw on the unique life experiences—of LGBT elders to diversify the public narratives on aging, long-term care and LGBT rights.
Video storytelling has become a powerful tool for nonprofits, the largest for-profit corporations in the world, and everyday people. Why? Because stories have power. From Greek mythology to fairy tales, to campfire ghost-stories, people love to tell and hear stories. Nowadays, videos, and the ease of creating and posting videos online, are the modern-day equivalent of storytelling. The rise of affordable smartphones, tablets and webcams has led to more and more individuals and companies uploading their own content to the web to tell their story—and you can, too!
Reports show that 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. You read that right, every minute! With that staggering fact, you may wonder if your story is important enough to share, and I’m here to tell you, IT IS.
As a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) older person, the story of just one experience out of the many in your life can create a ripple effect! You could help change a Senator’s mind on the Older Americans Act; you could give a young lesbian girl hope; you could create respect in a work environment; you could inspire someone to volunteer—and so much more.