6/8/15 Papero

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On June 8th, MIT Open Documentary Lab and StoryCode Boston present Papero, a new content sharing platform and finalist of the Harvard Innovation Lab Dean’s Cultural Entrepreneurship Challenge.  We will also discuss the emergence of YouTube science/history channels (CrashCourse, Khan Academy, Minute Physics, etc.) as powerful new forms of enlightenment storytelling.

Originally from France, Germany, the UK and the US and studying statistics, history, philosophy and economics – what brought the Papero team together was the realization that the current system of content sharing is broken. At the beginning of February this year they set out to design Papero: a new way of sharing, engaging with and keeping track of digital content – articles, blog posts, podcasts, video clips – any and all content worth sharing.

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The act of simply reposting a link has become mechanical – literally, with millions of automated social shares happening daily. With Papero, any URL can become a canvas for you to express your point of view and your thoughts about a subject, organize and curate a collection of information and assets, collaborate and annotate in real-time. You’re not just sharing the content, you are empowered to fashion your own retelling.

With the accessibility of YouTube and media production tools to a vast majority, we have seen a redefinition of the educational film genre.  I used to groan at just saying the phrase “educational film”, as it recalled corporate-produced churnings of stock footage and social engineering.  But now it is easier than ever to make what we’ve always wanted to see and tell the stories of history and share our passion for science with the world.

The format for these series (CGP Grey, ViHart, HardCore History, Vsauce…) varies in character as much as their creators, but the motivation is ostensibly the same: to share knowledge in a new way… and perhaps revolutionize our education system? Eh, one thing at a time 🙂