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exercise agency in facing adversity and maintaining the val- Network Protocols of Affinity, Authenticity, and
ues he promotes by exposing the evils of factory farming and Amateurism
liberating its victims. The poetic trope of attribution of motive
is used to construct the corporation as an evil villain, symboli- A key feature that distinguishes digital organizational story-
cally represented by men in black suits, a common visual telling is the reliance on electronic networks that enable col-
metonym used to represent corporate interests (Bell, 2008), laboration and co-construction between storytellers and
whereas the animals destined for slaughter are portrayed as audiences across geographical boundaries, on a scale and at
defenseless victims. The story also contains a strongly moral a speed greater than that enabled by traditional storytelling
dimension through this juxtaposition of good and evil methods. As we discussed above, this relies on building a
(Gabriel, 2000). network of followers that shares an affinity. Networks of
The moral dimension of FRS’s approach to, and use of, affinity enable rapid, purposeful distribution of digital orga-
digital organizational storytelling is also evident in The Story nizational stories in a way that does not rely on paid advertis-
of Stuff (TSOS). This video series features a single narrator, ing or direct access to mass broadcasting (Wolfe, 2009).
TSOS Project founder Annie Leonard, who speaks directly Techniques used by FRS to cultivate communities of affinity
to the camera and is supported by simple black-and-white include multiple, related online activities (e.g., message
line drawn cartoon drawings to represent key protagonists. boards and listservs, blogs, email, Facebook, and Twitter),
The mode of storytelling conforms to the documentary genre, and longer established offline technologies (video screen-
through claiming to present factual information about the ings, radio, and journalistic features). These are used in com-
world beyond the story, and using visual aids to communi- bination to encourage audiences to respond to stories and
cate evidence in support of an argument (Bell, 2008). The participate in conversation with storytellers and with each
narrators’ argument is that “most environmental deteriora- other, as this respondent explained:
tion is a result of systemic failures of the capitalism that we
have today . . . long-term solutions must seek transformative We have a very engaged audience. I mean we call them typically
change” (Leonard, 2010, p. xxi) and that therefore “business a community instead of an audience because they really do . . .
as usual is unsustainable” (Heaton, 2010, p. 554). The story You know, it was really interesting with this last Story of Citizens
United film that we did. We had folks complete some survey
conforms to the rhetorical documentary form, by addressing questions for us and we had them watch a series of videos both
the audience directly and “trying to move them towards a for and against the decision and then give us some feedback
particular intellectual position, emotional attitude, and/or around what messages were coming through . . . to try and get a
action” that will affect their everyday life (Bell, 2008, pp. sense from them in terms of like what information would be
189-190). The images act as fixed signifiers of corporations, useful as we tried to tell the story. It’s [also] a very diverse
government, employees, and consumers. They also rely on audience . . . it’s very popular with Catholic nuns in the Mid-West
juxtaposition of opposites, through which the qualities of and here in Oakland there’s like a youth group of colour that has
each become exaggerated. The stories rely on attribution of adopted Story of Stuff into like a hip-hop poetry dance . . .
unity, constructing corporations as an undifferentiated entity
that is responsible for causing significant negative impact on Community building takes place offline as well as online,
society and the natural environment. This enables clear attri- for example by encouraging network members to meet face
bution of blame and credit, giving the storyteller, Annie, “a to face, or “throw house parties,” following the launch of a
means of determining right and wrong and assigning them to new online video:
appropriate agents” (Gabriel, 2000, p. 38). The poetic tropes
associated with traditional organizational storytelling are It was a way to publicise . . . people like to be given very clear
thus enhanced through the use of visual symbolism, which things to do and ways to participate. So they said they were
enables the clear attribution of agency, turning passive, inan- going to have a screening party on the launch date and we gave
them directions to download the movie and gave like a discussion
imate, or conceptual categories (such as animals reared for guide and then I created this Google form so that after people
human consumption or corporations) into purposeful, con- had had their parties they could give us information and it’s
scious, and characterful beings (see Table 2). actually geo-tagged which means it integrates with Google maps
For FRS, this digital medium enables simple yet strongly . . . So they could drop a little pin where they put their party, how
moral stories about organizational change to be dissemi- many people attended and, you know, was there some funny
nated to global audiences. The storytellers’ aim is to achieve story they wanted to share?
a behavioral change in audiences through moral critique of
corporate practices that have a negative impact on societies. FRS cultivates a multiplicity and diversity of voices to
However, as the next section argues, successful digital interact with their stories. This encourages a blurring of the
organizational storytelling also relies on following and boundaries between storytellers and audiences by inviting
negotiating specific network protocols on which these prac- audiences to actively participate in digital organizational sto-
tices rely. rytelling. As a consequence, the origin of meaning migrates