Seeking community involvement during the planning process of local government is critical to success. Providing technological solutions such as new age media, alongside storytelling, is likely to increase broader participation from rural community members during planning development. Due to society’s current reliance on communication technology, this study represents the profound impact storytelling and new age media can have in rural environments and supports storytelling as an effective application for local government processes. This research focused on new age media due to shifts in society’s preference for technology advancements, whereas new age media is digitally accessed using the internet for any form of communication. Both historical and present-day storytelling were examined to help validate how its pairing with modern technology creates a harmonious link between communities and public officials.
The purpose of this qualitative study is to address the question: Does the combination of storytelling and new age media affect participatory planning efforts within rural communities? With a comprehensive literature review, case study methodology, interviews, and survey data from Georgia county officials, this study examines how local governments can increase local-level engagement in the participatory planning process. “Community storytelling can show not only the intrinsic worth of intangible assets like culture and identity (Ramos 2019) but also their ability to foster new economic development opportunities, foregrounding the knowledge and experiences of rural residents” (Lowery et al. 2020, 6).
This research design provides a broad contextual analysis of rural communities and explains how storytelling and new age media can facilitate local camaraderie. Descriptive case studies, interviews, and survey questions within this research sought to examine: (a) the effects of storytelling and new age media within communities; and (b) the participation of communities utilizing their combination. With the implementation of new age media storytelling, rural areas can better assist their communities’ proposed developments garnering support and mobilizing stakeholder involvement. Because technology is ever-evolving, this research is essential to the progression of the general public and warrants continuous monitoring. Ultimately, this research hopes to broaden knowledge by which communities are better served, and community participation becomes more than a paradigm but exists as a working structure of the future.
This research design provides a broad contextual analysis of rural communities and explains how storytelling and new age media can facilitate local camaraderie. Descriptive case studies, interviews, and survey questions within this research sought to examine: (a) the effects of storytelling and new age media within communities; and (b) the participation of communities utilizing their combination. With the implementation of new age media storytelling, rural areas can better assist their communities’ proposed developments garnering support and mobilizing stakeholder involvement. Because technology is ever-evolving, this research is essential to the progression of the general public and warrants continuous monitoring. Ultimately, this research hopes to broaden knowledge by which communities are better served, and community participation becomes more than a paradigm but exists as a working structure of the future.