By Jonas Miller
Opinion Editor
I stumbled upon something recently, and I believe it’s something that everybody should know about.
Consider this: every one of the estimated 7.2 billion people that occupy our earth has a story. They could be war stories, or funny stories, or tragic stories. The first thought that comes to mind: that’s a lot of stories.
Now, there have been numerous attempts to capture all of these stories. Until recently, my favorite, and the most prominent of those attempts in my opinion, has been the “Humans of New York” project. Created and run by Brandon Stanton, the project aims to capture and share the stories of the Big Apple, one person at a time.
I discovered something that I hope will challenge Brandon and his project, and it’s an app called StoryCorps.
According to the app’s description, StoryCorps is “an independent nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.”
The way the app works is brilliantly simple. Upon opening, it prompts you to sign in or make an account. Then the fun begins.
Within the application are all of the tools you need to interview someone; no assembly required.
There are pre-made lists of questions to help facilitate the interview. Family heritage, love and relationships, as well as growing up and school make up some of the categories for questions you can ask.
The app provides three lengths of time that an interview can last: 15, 30, and 40 minutes. The interview will automatically save and end after 45 minutes.
Although everything that this app does can be done without the app itself, I believe the message that it sends makes it more appealing than simply using your phone’s regular camera or voice recorder.
In the app’s description, the word archive is used. The founders want to create an “archive” of human storytelling. The sheer mass of information that will be shared if this app becomes popular gives me chills.
My favorite part about “Humans of New York” is that it opens my eyes to circumstances of life that I had no idea existed.
You hear stories, growing up, about people who use hard drugs and live in poverty, but I guess I never really acknowledged that those kind of things actually happened until I came across HONY.
Brandon shares photos of people who talk about being in jail and being addicted to this drug and that drug, and it’s mind blowing.
That’s what I’m hoping this app does. I want to hear about war stories and people running away to get married, stuff I never would have known about otherwise.
I’ve never really been a fan of school, because I don’t believe that’s the best way to learn. I think you can learn more talking to strangers on the street than you can sitting in a history classroom for 45 minutes.
My challenge to all of you is to learn. Download the app, find a loved one or a stranger, and learn. Ask them about their life, or their job, or their family, because you never know what kind of story they’re going to share with you.
