I'm heading community and content in a new semi-private social networking tool for visual storytelling called Selfish. We're about to launch our beta iOS apps in Russia and Canada, then in the US and Android a little later, along with our desktop component. Big, global stuff for socially savvy publishers!
We're looking for digital media pioneers and adventurous, creative people to work with us as we get the kinks out of the technology, and gear up for a public launch. We're a work-in-progress, and we want to pay you for your own works-in-progress.
I'm pleased to announce the Selfish Content Creator Program.
Our paid content creator program runs from August 25-October 25. Those dates may shift, so check it out no matter what. (See full details here, and get the link to download the app on your iPhone. You'll need iOS7 or iOS8 to use the app.)
You'll be using the tool to fashion a short, connected string of posts with photos and brief text on a topic, either alone or with other co-authors.
- You can do this with your friends or family, in fact, we prefer you do it with other people since this is a collaborative tool.
- Use informal language and conversational tone.
- Ideal topics are a weekend road trip; details about your obsessions, hobbies or work or sports you play; attending a special occasion, an event like a concert or a wedding or a conference; events in an interest group you belong to.
- You can repurpose previously published material.
- You can use personal content.
The aim of this program for North American/English language creative communities is to attract diverse content into the app that reflects best uses of the tool.
I'd like to encourage creatives and bloggers out there to try the app and test its capabilities in telling a story that comes naturally to you, including stories that are happening in your life right now. Capturing real time, ongoing adventures is something this app supports well.
Also, we're going to pay you to start a story but you can always continue your Selfish stories after you reach the pay mark. We imagine you'll want to as you realize the value you've created and the new ways you discover to share your life and interests with the people who matter to you.
What are we looking for? The basics of a winning Selfish story in this program are:
- has a good cover/title/story description,
- with coauthors,
- a minimum of 10 moments total of photos and text,
- uses hashtags and geotags and @ mentions,
- with active comments, and
- social shares throughout the creation process.
Presenting our content creator program in a Selfish story (see it here) is an experiment to show you how a Selfish story works, how it's an ongoing thread of small moments, how it's different than a blog post, how it's different than a tweet or a Facebook status or a Facebook photo album, or a Pinterest pin, or an Instagram photo.
As my fellow content creator, communicator, publisher, writer, transmedia storyteller, as my fellow friend, family member, and member of other interest communities, I think you might want to know about this new mobile, social, online option for connecting what you care about with how and what you capture and share, and with whom you choose to share it. If you have questions, just ask me. I'd love to try to answer.
This story about the program shows you sample screens of existing content and creation flows while you consider the guidelines. It also demonstrates what kind of Selfish powers you can expect to harness for your own storytelling goals:
- a Selfish story has one link and is shareable everywhere;
- a Selfish story can have multiple coauthors, all posting into the ongoing story;
- a Selfish story is made of multiple moments of photos and text all linked together;
- a Selfish story is created in the mobile app and displayed on the web;
- a Selfish story on the web is displayed in animated moments with rotating images and blocks of text;
- a Selfish story is interactive, with comments and likes on each moment;
- if you’re a registered user, you can subscribe to any public Selfish story so you get all the moments in your feed;
- and, Selfish is free;
- there's more, because Selfish is all about user controls, but hey this post has to end some time.
Check out the content creator program, or send this link to someone you know who might like to try it: http://bit.ly/SelfishApp
Cultural and personal sensitivity issues we covered in this workshop included how to strike a balance between one's CEO presence and personal presence online since "it's risky!" We also talked about optimizing your profiles at all the social media services and sites you're a member of. Cynthia Litchi mentioned that in Mexico, where she's from, professionals don't use LinkedIn because of security issues -- so if you want to connect with Mexican pro counterparts online, more closed settings are where you're going to find them. Thanks to Tanya Monsef Bunger, a coach at the Women's Startup Lab, for coleading this workshop and 
Watch a video 
