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It isn’t surprising how the Internet is empowering
people to do their own thing and providing them with a platform for
creative expression. More than that, being an interactive medium, it
is powering the growth of like-minded communities that engage in fostering
an animated conversation on the Web.
In 1996, in the early years of the Web, was started Fray-- an online
community with a difference. Its objective was single-minded: to promote
the art of personal storytelling and to create a place where real people
tell real stories. I had discovered Fray in the year 2000 when Wired
magazine hailed its creator, Derek Powazek, founder and self-titled
“grand poo-bah” as a “New Media Renaissance Man.”
Wired had described Fray as an online and sometimes offline
coffeehouse that features highly confessional accounts on universal
subjects like fear of commitment, friendship, sex, and family. Log on
to www.fray.com and
you will know why it’s a place for people who believe that the
Web is about personal expression and a new kind of art.
I visited Fray after three years and was glad to see it evolved and
wearing its attitude on its sleeve. The design is avant-garde,
the look and feel is youthful and the website is loaded with zing. One
thing that remains, however, is that its content is more than just the
coffeehouse variety.
The site puts up a new feature story about once a month and each ends
with a posting area where you can tell your story right back. The site
has primarily four story sections interestingly titled Criminal,
Hope, Drugs and Work, which house stories that test your
fate and tales about what we do because we have to.
Essentially, Fray is a community of people who believe that everyone
has a story to tell. It believes that ordinary people tell extraordinary
stories. And it builds on the wonderful opportunity that the Internet
has created in shared story spaces. Take a look at a typical Fray story.
I clicked on the Criminal section and discovered ‘Bitter’
by Rebecca Eisenberg. This is how it goes: “Everyone wants to
know why I am so bitter. They call me rude names, such as "antagonistic"
and "hostile," even though I can come off as pretty floozy,
even dippy, on face-to-face meeting. Hell, I am even known to wear floral
polyester lounge minidresses and put weird cutesie things in my hair.
Nonetheless, bitterness is a quality that no lounge mini or platform
plastic shoes can hide. The bottom line is yes, I am bitter. And, indeed,
sometimes I am even antagonistic and hostile.” And thereby hangs
a tale.
You too can submit your story to Fray. All you need to do is follow
these three simple rules:
“1. Make it personal. (Use the word "I" or don't write
at all.) 2. Be honest. (Only true stories will be accepted.) 3. Keep
it under 1000 words (Please).”
If you believe that in the mad rush of life, there is a need for personal
expression, sharing, and emotional reflection, do join the fascinating
gang at Fray.
Carry on surfing!
strehan@hindustantimes.com
(25th October 2003)
