AMPLIFY Digital Storytellers Scholarship

As of 2019, more than half of the world was online. By 2030, it’s estimated that 90% will be. 

We live in the age of infinite leverage. What does that mean? Today, your efforts can be proliferated through several levers: code, audio, capital, etc. Any one of these is a force multiplier in your ability to impact people.

One of the most time-tested levers is the written word. A compelling message can be disseminated to millions of people.

But the dynamics of writing online have changed dramatically in recent years. In what was previously an environment of information scarcity, we now live in an era of information abundance. 

Instead of spending our days farming in the field, we spend them as information workers. And the barrier to participate in that online exchange—whether it be creating a video, a tweet, or a blog post—has decreased exponentially. And that’s exactly why the amount of content online has skyrocketed. Information has become a commodity. 

Information is the new “oil” that you can create, refine, and trade… bringing us full swing into the attention economy.

We’re in an era of information overload, meaning it’s harder than ever to find quality information among the sea of soundbites plaguing the web. The ratio of great content online has decreased. The end-user is exposed to more good content, but simultaneously, a lot more bad content. The web’s name has become very fitting—a catch-all tool to capture everything.

I believe that we need to preserve the value of excellent information, by rewarding excellent content creators. In a world where we often seek to be right, instead of seeking to understand, the world’s storytellers are the unsung heroes helping us to see shades of grey.

The AMPLIFY Digital Storytellers Scholarship exists to support digital creators looking to start or grow their own digital footprint, by writing online. The winner(s) of this scholarship will receive the monetary reward, but also receive a free copy of Doing Content Right and quarterly mentorship from Steph Smith. 

This scholarship is part of a 12-part Amplify Scholarship Series, spanning topics including women in tech, continuous learning, environmental science, and more. These scholarships are announced quarterly and awarded monthly throughout 2021. Follow along here!