How social media is transforming the way we tell stories

The future of journalism is undeniably visual. As social media continues to shape how audiences consume news, visual journalism becomes increasingly vital in cutting through the clutter, delivering information clearly and effectively, and engaging audiences.

Lazar Čovs, an investigative and data journalist working for BBC World Wide News, located in Serbia, and a trainer on data journalism for Deutsche Welle, offers valuable insights on how social media habits are shaping visual journalism, why visuals are critical in today’s information-saturated world, and why journalists must acquire visual storytelling skills.

Social media is the main street with bright lights 

As audiences increasingly consume news through social media, the format and approach to storytelling have had to evolve. According to Čovs, social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook have redefined how journalists present their stories. “Younger generations don’t want to click through to a website anymore,” Čovs notes. This shift has encouraged newsrooms to produce native content designed for specific platforms, where visual storytelling plays a crucial role in capturing the audience’s attention.

“If the mission of media is to inform, educate, and entertain, it’s not against our policy to do so where the audience is—on the platforms they already use. Not in a dark alley off to the side. If you think of the digital space, social media is the boulevard and our website is like a back alley. We’re trying to lure people into the alley with candies, saying, “Come with me!”—but they’re not going to do it. They’ll stay on the boulevard, surrounded by bright lights and ads. If we bring our education, information, or entertainment to the boulevard, they’ll stay there with us”.

One of the most effective tools Čovs mentions is the carousel format on Instagram, which allows users to scroll through a series of images or graphics. “If you want to create a timeline or tell a linear story, the carousel can be a perfect format. It’s natural for people to scroll left to right,” he explains.

Carousels can serve two purposes:

Either way, it’s a win-win scenario for engaging your audience.

Here’s a good example from The Guardian

Similarly, TikTok’s rise as a dominant platform requires news outlets to create short, visually engaging videos that can convey key information in seconds.

Take this example from The Washington Post or this one from The Economist

Čovs’ key advice is to observe how users consume other content on social media and then adapt media content accordingly. In an environment where media outlets are vying for the attention of distracted readers, visual journalism can help make stories more memorable. “When you include visuals, especially interactive ones like scrollytelling, you’re more likely to keep the audience engaged throughout the story,” Čovs explains.

Watch the recording of Flourish webinar “How to master data visualization for social media” on YouTube

Scrollytelling might tell the story of the generation

One of the earliest and most notable examples of scrollytelling Čovs can remember was the New York Times’ “Snowfall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek.” He recalls that back then, creating such an immersive experience required not just one team, but multiple teams—developers, animators, video editors, and journalists—working together. It was a massive, resource-heavy effort that could only be achieved by major news outlets with the manpower to support it.

Today, however, Čovs notes how the landscape has dramatically changed. Scrollytelling has become much more accessible, with tools allowing journalists and producers to create compelling stories almost as easily as making a PowerPoint presentation.

“You no longer need coding experience or programming knowledge to produce a basic scrollytelling piece. Even those starting from scratch can learn the fundamentals in a day or two, and if you know even a bit of HTML or CSS, you can further customize and enhance the storytelling experience.”

Čovs emphasizes that this shift is particularly relevant for younger audiences, who are already accustomed to consuming content by scrolling on their phones. “For them, scrollytelling feels completely natural,” he observes. “They scroll, and something keeps happening—that’s how the story unfolds.”

A skilled storyteller or online producer, according to Čovs, must understand this dynamic and tailor the experience accordingly. “Knowing the semiotics of interfaces—where people are likely to look, click, or tap—is crucial,” he advises.

Sometimes, simple instructions like ‘tap here to see more’ can guide the audience through an interactive, engaging story

Lazar Čovs

Scrollytelling is not just a new format; it’s a reflection of how today’s generation consumes information. It taps into behaviors people are already familiar with, allowing the story to flow in a way that feels intuitive making it a powerful tool for modern journalism.

Here’s a scrollytelling piece from The New York Times that I personally find impressive: Jeff Bezos’ Net Worth. And here’s a scrollytelling Čovs created on traffic accidents in Serbia: Traffic Accidents in Serbia

Journalists need to have visual skills

For smaller newsrooms, the resources to dedicate an entire team to visual journalism are often lacking. However, Čovs believes that equipping journalists with basic visual skills can go a long way in enhancing storytelling. “Every journalist should have at least a basic understanding of data visualization,” Čovs advises.

With just a one-day workshop, he argues, journalists can learn to create simple but effective charts or graphs to accompany their stories. This is particularly useful for daily news outlets where time is a constraint but the need for clarity remains critical. 

“Journalists don’t need to become coders or graphic designers, but they do need to know enough to collaborate with these experts and bring the story to life visually,” he adds. By equipping journalists with visual skills and encouraging collaboration between reporters and visual teams, newsrooms can create more engaging and effective stories without overstretching their resources.

However, when it comes to media outlets focused on investigative stories – those that spend weeks, or often months, on a single story – the approach is different, notes Čovs. In these cases, it’s usually better to have one or two people dedicated to learning the necessary skills as a specialized trade, allowing them to go deeper and truly become experts. These individuals can be journalists or social media managers.

“For some journalists, the skills come naturally. From my experience working with small and local media outlets, I’ve found that they sometimes already have a social media person who is eager to learn just the visualization aspect. They don’t need to do data analysis or full-fledged data journalism – they can focus solely on the visual elements”, argues Čovs.

For small newsrooms, Flourish provides an excellent opportunity via monthly webinars that cover a wide range of data visualisation and Flourish-specific topics. You can register here for for the upcoming one: https://flourish.studio/resources/webinar/ 

How to know your visuals are readable

When it comes to ensuring that visuals are readable and effective, Čovs has a straightforward method. “Everything that I thought might be complicated, I would show to one of two people in my newsroom with the least digital literacy. One is an older editor, and the other is a journalist who typically covers history stories. Neither of them is very tech-savvy, but they have an incredible ability to tell me if something is clear enough.”

Čovs’s method is simple: If they understand the visual, where to click, and how to interpret the information, it’s likely clear enough for the broader audience. “If it’s clear to them, it’s probably clear to most people. If they say it’s too complicated, I sometimes throw it away and give up completely or choose another way to visualize something.”

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