Editors’ Blog

SMITHTeens Turns One With—Book, Video, Twitter

Monday, August 17th, 2009

By Larry Smith


A year ago we launched SMITHTeens, as Rachel blogged about last August. We launched the site as a simple way to collect six-word memoirs for a book of six-worders by teens. Then we got out of the way. What happened next? The teens blew us away. From the heart (”I am in a love pentagon”) to the body (”Bulimia was only cramping my style”) to the home (”We’re the family you gossip about’) to the unexpected paths life can take (”Seventeen, Pregnant. He’s off to Iraq”), teens have told us so much about themselves in so few words. In one year, more than 65,000 six-word memoirs have been posted by “SMITHteens” (as many call themselves). They’ve created, with very little help from us, a passionate community of storytellers. One teen, Anna from New Zealand, even created a birthday video for Chelsea from Philly, enlisting the help of her SMITHTeeners, who only know each other virtually. That’s what we call community.

To celebrate this one-year mark, as well as the September release of our new book, I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure, we’ve created a new Twitter feed, @smithteens, and new video. Most images and videos within this video are from the teens themselves, and it’s edited by Nicole Salzano. The song, “Hollywood Baby,” comes from the Mexico Surf rockers, Lost Acapulco. Turn up the volume.

Tags: , ,

3 responses

  1. The art of storytelling « Brave new world says:

    [...] share some of the resources I found while putting them onto my art wiki. Above is a video called Six Word Memoirs by Teens  on the SMITH blog which celebrates storytelling. Here’s the background: A year ago we [...]

  2. Paul says:

    some beautiful expression here… I love it!

  3. XmmTiTeilMBhPM says:

    649926 637804There a couple of fascinating points in time in this post but I don?t know if I see these center to heart. There might be some validity but I?ll take hold opinion until I explore it further. Outstanding write-up , thanks and then we want a great deal much more! Put into FeedBurner too 323506

Leave a Reply

The name you want displayed with your comment.

Emails are not published with comments (i.e., everyone won't see it).

Your Website. This is optional.

 
SMITH Magazine

SMITH Magazine is a home for storytelling.
We believe everyone has a story, and everyone
should have a place to tell it.
We're the creators and home of the
Six-Word Memoir® project.