As media has evolved over time, the ways in which stories are written and consumed have as well. Social media has grown within our society, and is now used as the primary form of communication, and thus is a prominent place for story telling and consumption. Due to this societal shift, there are specific criteria that a story must meet in order to be considered good.

In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of a good story is a creative title. The title of a story, whether it is personal, fictional, or news, is the first thing that the reader sees when they come across the story. Often times a Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram post, as well as Google search results, will provide just the title of a story, or some variation of it, and it is necessary that it is creative and engaging enough that viewers will decide to click and read more. If the title is not enough to urge the reader to continue, the story is more or less irrelevant, as it is not fully being consumed. Further, the title or call to attention, especially when presented on social media, where there are an abundance of similar stories, must stand out among the rest and make the reader want to know more.  For example, the New York Times tweeted, among many other tweets on the topic, an article that discusses Rihanna’s rather positive comments regarding the Rachel Dolezal scandal.  In their tweet, there is a brief statement about what the entertainment news story is about, as well as a photo of Rihanna and her quote about a very controversial topic.  The tweet provides enough to leave the reader curious, but doesn’t give away so much that they do not need to read the actual story.

Rihanna defends Rachel Dolezal: “I think she was a bit of a hero" http://t.co/jd0Kn3SpL8 pic.twitter.com/GgZEOJlbWk

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 11, 2015

I also believe that brevity and conciseness are incredibly important to a good story, especially one that is often being read through social media outlets or Google. There are so many stories shared and circulated throughout social media feeds that they are often read over very quickly, and it is important that the message gets through to the reader in the short amount of time that they devote to reading it. Many media and news outlets have adapted to this societal change, and begun writing stories designed to be read very quickly, or often even skimmed over. For example, below is a Time story, about an adorable friendship between a cheetah cub and puppy, which is incredibly brief, but quickly gets to the point.  This is a story that surely many readers would love to read, but realistically are not going to read all of, or possibly even scroll past the first screen.  The article is short enough that it can be read in its entirety without even scrolling, which today is considered a good story.

Given the way in which media has evolved over time, we see stories nearly everywhere. Stories today have adapted to the way in which society communicates, and are being predominately accessed through social media.  Every day, whether browsing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Google, we encounter countless different stories, which we often scroll past or read over very quickly. In order to be considered a good story today, a story must stand out among the abundance of others that exist, and inform and engage the reader quickly and directly in order to make the story stick.