A gnawing nervousness on narratives

Narrative? For a comms agency? Groundbreaking.

But bear with us. It’s important.

Let’s start with the climate crisis. Earlier this year, the first study on whether climate fiction narratives impact action was published, finding that both hope and fear were effective in spurring deeds. 

Last year, the New York Times reported research that shows fiction can help set off real sensations of sight, hearing, touch or taste, replicate real-life social encounters, and even generate empathy.

Which is why any sign of anecdote oversight is a reason for concern.

A recent piece on technology innovation in Europe pithily summarises that US tech bros understand the value of narrative in selling you a dream, while their European cousins prefer a “structured roadmap, cautious forecasts, and a GDPR checklist”. So much for meeting some mysterious stranger on your European break.

Google, meanwhile, is moving from a writing-first culture to a building-first culture as AI allows developers to show rather than tell. VC Oliver Molander points out that issues in product development stem from communication breakdowns, but in reality it means a story necessary to convince is being replaced by code needed to operate.

Even Hollywood, the storytelling capital of the world, is under threat. The LA Times reports studios are using AI to explore how different story directions land. As the piece points out, “if narrative itself becomes infinite, remixable and disposable, does the idea of a story still hold any meaning at all?”

We should probably have a good ending to this story after all of that. But instead, a plea will do. Be less like those famously functional Europeans. Keep telling stories.