Humans of New York, Storytelling, & Feature Writing

Source: @Humansofny on Instagram

You are familiar, I am sure, with Humans of New York - a wildly popular collection

of people's stories, told by the people themselves.

Creator Brandon Stanton wanders the streets of New York City with a camera and a friendly demeanor and talks to people about themselves, whether it is a life experience, an account of what they have done that day- but it can be anything, really. He takes the person's photo, and with their permission, shares the photo and the story to accompany it across social media.

Stanton's storytelling has since moved far beyond New York, though- he has traveled the world giving people a platform from even the most silent areas, including an extensive series on Syrian refugees.

You can find the stories on the Humans of New York blog, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The blog has over 17 million followers on Facebook and 8.8 million followers on Instagram.

Clearly, people like to read about other people's stories- people who could be completely different from themselves but could also be miraculously similar. As we have also seen through the blog, people are willing to share even the most intimate parts of their story with Stanton and the world.

What makes this blog so special? What can we learn from it?

Firstly, it's important to note that what Stanton did with his blog when it started in 2010 was completely new and revolutionary. People had never been able to encounter the stories of others online so candidly, so honestly. There is something undeniably vulnerable and captivating about looking at a photo of a stranger and reading about a defining moment in their life, told in their own words. If you don't believe me, see if you can't get lost for at least an hour scrolling through the Instagram.

As we are taught as PR professionals, every good feature story has three elements:

1) A character

2) An obstacle

3) A resolution.

Frequently, we see these elements in posts on Humans of New York as well. Take this recent three-part story as an example:

Source: humansofnewyork.com

“We’d get in these blowout fights whenever she asked me to stop drinking.  She’d try to tell me to slow down. Or that my behavior was ridiculous.  Or that she loved me and she wanted me to be healthy.  But it just seemed like she was trying to interfere with my life.  Your own selfishness becomes completely invisible when you’re that addicted.  And the more a person cares, the more they become an obstacle.  It’s horrible because you start hating them for loving you.  It would be so much easier to escape if nobody cared.  But somehow she stayed.  It’s hard to imagine why because she had every reason to go.  But this summer we’re getting married.  And I’ll be three years sober this April.”

Let's identify the important parts here, in this short story:

1) Character: We know the character is this man. We don't know who he is, what his name is, how old he is, or what he had for lunch that day, but we see his face as he holds eye contact with us through the camera. Suddenly, we care about what he has to say.

2) Obstacle: He had an alcohol addiction and had not yet admitted the problem and sought out help. It was destroying his relationship. He wanted to escape.

3) Resolution: He got the help he needed and committed to a sober life, and is committing to his girlfriend soon.

How could anyone read this story and not feel for this man and his girlfriend? It pulls on emotions and it feels inspiring, which is what every good feature does.

Getting a real person to share their real stories in their own words, next to their picture in this way, somehow has a powerful effect even though the story may take only a minute to read.

So, how can PR professionals apply this to their feature writing?

• Focus on the human element of the story. That is one reason that Humans of New York has been so successful - people want to know about the personal lives of others. They want to understand what makes other people tick. Search for that in your stories!

• Make the readers feel the obstacle. It should be a relief when you finally announce that your hero's problems have been solved.

• Include a photo that says something about the character. It should be captivating but simple. Just enough to spark curiosity.

• Give your subject the platform! Use as many quotes as you can. Nobody knows their story better than they do, and the authenticity will only help your story.

• Don't focus too much on the length of the story. Especially on social media, there is no problem with making readers want more!