New Site Features on The History Project Make It Easier Than Ever to Create Immersive Digital Narratives Through Group Storytelling & Memory Collection

OAKLAND, Calif., April 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The History Project is making it easier than ever to create immersive digital life narratives, through a series of new product advancements announced today. The new updates are part of the Oakland-based startup's efforts to evolve the product to better meet the needs of its expanding user base, by making it easier than ever to start and build projects, and enabling group storytelling.

Before the Internet, memories were collected and stored offline, passed down through albums and other memorabilia. But with the arrival of social media, it became easier than ever to share memories in real time. Yet despite this, many consumers have memories stored offline that they wish to share in a digital way. This is especially true among older generations, which have mementos from decades of life they want to turn into a meaningful narrative and legacy that can be passed along to future generations.

"Today, memories are collected and shared in real time, in online communities and across various social channels. Important life experiences are shared daily, but there is no way to easily preserve important memories and in a way that is meaningful," said The History Project CEO and co-founder, Niles Lichtenstein.  "People want to share the memories that are most important to them, in a way that is significant and easy to manage. It's like a Pinterest of emotional belongings."

Since its launch last fall, The History Project has made user feedback core to its product's evolution. By coupling feedback with user analytics, the company has identified the most common ways users have been using the platform to bring their memories to life in a single, beautiful space, and create an easier way to start projects, manage updates, and bring others into the process.

Among the key findings from user feedback was the desire for an easier way to start and continue building projects. Another was a growing interest in group storytelling. Among current users, 10% of project owners had invited collaborators with 75% acceptance rate of those invited.  With many people inviting collaborators, a new Public Contributions feature gives users the ability to keep a project private, or open it up so that anyone contribute to it.

Singer-songwriter Jewel, is using public contributions to give fans a way to engage with the artist and one another, during her Picking Up the Pieces Tour.  YouthSpeaks, one of the world's leading presenters of Spoken Word, performance, education, and youth development programs, is also using the new feature as a way to engage with its community in celebration of the organization's 20-year anniversary by giving members a way to share their favorite memories from the many events and inspiring moments over the past two decades.

Additional new updates on The History Project include:

• A Simpler Way to Add Memories — Now, in addition to being able to add memories to specific events, users can add memories directly to a project and add rich context through voice notes and metadata.
• New Memories View — For all memories added to a project not associated to a particular timeline event, there's a New Memories view, in addition to the Timeline, Tag, and Map views.
• In-Line Editing — New in-line editing features makes updating names of events, dates, adding locations, and descriptions easier and with less clicks.
• Style Enhancements and Customization — design updates throughout the site have made the user interface softer with a prettier palate, while improved customization tools that include ability to turn on/off project/media liking, view counts, open contributions (for THP registered users), and personalize the project header bar color, put the power of design into the user's hands.

The History Project has the power to help millions of people create their own digital time capsules and bring to life their most precious memories. Creating a space between the momentary chatter of social media and the automation of cloud storage, The History Project gives users the ability to re-envision how their history is passed down in a way that is meaningful, telling their own unique story through personal memories.

About The History Project
The History Project is the first-of-its-kind modern memory capsule that empowers individuals and groups to connect memories across media to build powerful experiential stories that transcend generations. It's where life stories are told better and the moments that matter are preserved into a meaningful narrative. Launched in 2015, The History Project is funded by The New York Times Company, Matter Ventures, Associated Press and angel investors. For more information, visit http://www.thehistoryproject.com. 

Media Contact
Danielle Simmons for The History Project
(415) 812-5128
Email

SOURCE The History Project

Related Links

https://www.thehistoryproject.com