Facebook is for Dinosaurs: The Practices and Motivations of Storytellers in Creative Facebook Community Groups

Abstract

This study explores the motivations and practices of ordinary people who use social media to engage in storytelling in a creative Facebook community group. It specifically looks at the stories shared by members of the Dinovember Community Facebook Group which is made up of parents and caregivers who stage scenes with toy dinosaurs every night of November for their household members to find in the morning. They then post the dinosaur stories to the Dinovember Community Facebook Group.

In order to answer the research question, a qualitative research process was undertaken. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 members of the Dinovember Community Facebook Group and their posts to the group from November 2022 were collated. That data then underwent reflexive thematic analysis.

The findings revealed that social media storytellers use elements of seriality, world-building and character development to convey messages to their audiences through intentional text and image choices. They were motivated by a desire to identify as creative storytellers and to support fellow members of the Dinovember Community Facebook Group. Finally, their greatest challenges stemmed from the perceived pressure to deliver content of a high standard as well as social media issues such as posting fatigue, privacy and algorithm concerns. This study suggests that elements of previous research into brand storytelling on social media are relevant to non-brand storytelling and it highlights areas for further investigation as well as possible applications for the practice and teaching of social media storytelling and engagement.