Civic Tech Field Guide
Sharing knowledge and productively growing the fieldThe Tech > Media > Narrative tech - (75)
Technology has always had a role in shaping how narratives are created, distributed, tracked and absorbed into society. Today, technology moves the words, pictures and meaning of narrative around the world in seconds. Technology helps us track the movement of narrative and research how narrative shifts behavior.
"Narrative Technology encompasses the tools, platforms, and infrastructure that can be used to assist and accelerate the shifting and/or maintenance of dominant narratives. This includes technologies that can baseline, listen to, test, and respond to media and online discourse at scale." - The Narrative Initiative
Suggested resources:
- Narrative Technology Case Studies, by Narrative Initiative
- Learn how 3 years of Big Listening (and testing) may change your campaigning, by Ted Fickes, MobLab
- Invest in Listening Infastructure, Sabrina Hersi Issa, The Engaged Journalism Lab
- Using “Big Listening” and “Distributed Campaigning,” Upwell Seeks a Sea-Change in Ocean Organizing, by Micah L. Sifry, TechPresident
- Tech Across Your Org: Sharing a Cause and Data Across Multiple Orgs, by Rachel Weidinger, NTEN Change
- Can Democrats Win Back the Internet in the Age of Trump?, by Peter Hamby, Vanity Fair
- Narrative Tech: Categories, needs and what’s next by Ted Fickes
- Why Your Nonprofit Should Be A Big Listener by Rachel Weidinger, featured by Beth Kanter
- Digital Listening: Insights from social media, a critical take on political campaigns’ use of these technologies, from a personal data perspective, by Tactical Tech’s Our Data, Ourselves project
- Shifting the conversation: How the sector is using narrative change to advance social change Books and chapters
- This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality, by Peter Pomerantsev
- pp 212-217 in The Big Disconnect, by Micah L. Sifry
- “Your campaign budget is the Internet —Rachel Weidinger” in Analytic Activism: Digital Listening and the New Political Strategy, by David Karpf
Training
- Storytelling and reach for civil society organizations by Fundación Multitudes
Showing 75 Results
The Impact Map
United States of America (the)The Impact Map provides timely data—as it becomes available—on policy, funding, and workforce changes and their localized effect. This tool is currently in beta and will continue evolving, so you may find areas that need updating.
Storytelling with Data Course
The New School, East 13th Street, New York, NY, USATaught by Maria Massei-Rosato
TheirStory
Rochester, NYUse TheirStory to capture, transcribe, edit, and preserve oral histories.
We the Builders
Washington, DCHere, you'll find stories from real government employees: How we save you time and money, how we protect your personal information, and how DOGE's dangerous dismantling of government technology puts you at risk.
Bridging Dictionary
MIT Media Lab[A] dynamic prototype from MIT’s Center for Constructive Communication that identifies how words common in American political discourse are used differently across the political divide
Better Images of AI
LondonHave you noticed that news stories and marketing material about Artificial Intelligence are typically illustrated with clichéd and misleading images ?
Rhetorical Labs
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)We are a research collective dedicated to providing public communication campaigns with rigorous, state-of-the-art tools for message development. Our methodology combines machine learning, crowdsourcing, and adaptive randomized controlled trials.
The People Say
20 Jay Street, Suite 203 Brooklyn, NY 11201 USAA qualitative research database featuring excerpts from 100+ hours of interviews with older adults talking about the issues most important to them.
StoryMapJS is a free tool to help you tell stories on the web that highlight the locations of a series of events. Tells a story based on a series of singular point locations.
Award-winning video work by UNFPA
Peabody Global Impact Awards
Georgia (US state)The Global Impact Award recognizes media or organizations that have profoundly changed the world for the better.
AnswerThePublic
San Diego, CADiscover search trends across Google Search, Bing, and YouTube
A tool designed to help you collect and compile video messages from a group of people
Mediante el proyecto audiovisual Voces de una nueva generación, hemos recopilado testimonios de jóvenes nacidos a partir de los años 90, que han forjado sus opiniones a través de la memoria colectiva, historias familiares y documentos de la época.
Free Machine awakens civic participation where emerging technology, public policy, and culture meet.
Future Perfect is a live, choose-your-own-adventure game where players join an imagined society called Tomorrowland.
Digital Innovation Fund
Washington, DCIn 2020, CIL launched the Digital Innovation Fund (DIF) to support experimental and innovative digital organizing tactics for state-based organizing groups and sharpen organizer skills in digital strategy and data analysis.
Word Force
594 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY 11238, USAWord Force, a project of Narrative Initiative, provides ghostwriting services and robust communication strategy with a narrative lens to grassroots social justice organizations.
Humans of Public Service (HOPS)
United States of America (the)Our mission is to create content that tells the story of humans in public service, share stories that reflect the diversity in America in an effort to humanize public servants, and create a more positive perception of government.
Video For Change
Thailand (Prathet Thai)We help changemakers use video to create more impact by enhancing their knowledge, strategies, technology, networks, and storytelling skills.
In this course, you will learn how stories and narratives make disinformation popular and credible and how to counter dangerous beliefs and attitudes.
Decriminalize Poverty
TennesseeThis narrative experience explores how poverty has been criminalized across Tennessee, what this means for people who live in communities in the state, and practical steps to build a better future.
The Public Good Projects
New York CityWe use science and technology to tackle today’s most pressing public health issues.
A report: How can stories help us change systems?
Consumer Reports Share My Story
New York, USAA platform for CR members to share their stories on a given topic, like medical bills
“Seeing” Neighborhoods through “Big” Data
Boston, MAModern administrative data—from 311 and 911 calls to building permit applications to Tweets—offer a detailed view of events and conditions across the city.
Opening in early 2012, The Social Media Listening Center at Clemson University is an interdisciplinary, cutting-edge laboratory that seeks to monitor, measure, and engage in social media conversations from across the web.
Our artificial intelligence platform covers many of today's most relevant topics: from sustainable cities to citizen security, from migration to climate change & biodiversity, and more.
Narrative Change Lab
TorontoInspirit Foundation program "to shift the Canadian narrative landscape for equity-seeking groups through pop culture."
Votus is a communications platform that helps organizations build relationships with persuadable audiences through 1:1 interaction across multiple digital channels.
Election Official Stories
United States of America (the)We share stories from election officials doing fantastic work.
A toolkit for communities to listen, tell stories, and imagine better futures together.
Mann Mela
India (Bhārat)“Mann Mela” is a museum of young people’s mental health stories from India Through sharing people’s real experiences, we tackle common misconceptions about mental health and mental illness, break down stigma and discrimination and encourage help-seeking.
ActionSprout
ActionSprout, Commercial Street, Bellingham, WA, USAActionSprout makes it easy to find curated content, schedule posts, manage Facebook ads, and create donations and petitions to grow your following!
Homevida
House 2, Plot 622, Mercy Samuelson Estate, Karmo, AbujaThe Nigeria Integrity Film Awards (HomeVida) is a unique platform that provides incentives for young scriptwriters and filmmakers to promote integrity values using film while influencing the wider public.
The Narrative Observatory
New York CityWith data infrastructure purpose-built to deliver audience-based insights, narrative and network analysis, and empirical validation of cultural strategy and content, we help strategists and creative practitioners identify story opportunities and challenges across a range of social issues.
Abre Alcaldías
Latin AmericaTrainings and storytelling for open government in Latin America
Mapping Makoko
NigeriaA combined tech and journalistic effort to map the Makoko informal settlement
Parli-N-Grams
Parliament Square, London, UKChart the frequency of words and phrases in UK Parliament debates
Norman Lear Center
USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Watt Way, Los Angeles, CA, USAStudying & Shaping the Impact of Entertainment & Media on Society
The Rules have developed a method and toolkit to help social movements bring about narrative and structural change. We call it Culture Hacking.
SoundCloud
BerlinDiscover, stream, and share a constantly expanding mix of music from emerging and major artists around the world.
Google Trends
Mountain View, CA, USAExplore what the world is searching
Investigate how weather and climate change are impacting our communities and environment.
Brandwatch Consumer Research
48 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10010, USAGet consumer fit by accessing data from 100 million sources and over 1.3 trillion individual posts.
Coworker.org is a platform for worker voice. Find out why employees of some of the world's largest companies are using Coworker.org to win change.
Terrastories
Pusugrunu, SurinameTerrastories is a geostorytelling application built to enable local communities to locate and map their own oral storytelling traditions about places of significant meaning or value to them.
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Civic Tech Field Guide