MyFabula is a social network with a novel approach of allowing users to tell their own stories and providing long-term value for users as well as their families and friends. Speaking at the recent Blockchain in Business Conference in Sydney Michael Choi, co-founder of MyFabula, explained how his company stands out from other social media platforms and why it is important to preserve certain memories.
Choi started his presentation with a personal anecdote where he recounted how his work for the government often took him to rural Australia. As there weren’t many options for social activities, he would visit cemeteries to enjoy the silence and to contemplate. Reading tombstones, he realised that reducing a person’s life to just their name, dates and a short phrase like ‘loved by all’, doesn’t do justice to any person.
Choi noted that everyone has a story to tell, and the best person to tell it is ourselves. Telling stories is a forgotten aspect of modern life and MyFabula aims to create an ecosystem where individuals can tell their own stories in their own way, instead of others telling it for them.
Passing on stories – a lost tradition
Choi highlighted the importance of storytelling as a way to pass on history and personal experiences. Verbal storytelling has been a common method for sharing stories throughout human history, and writing diaries was also a popular way to record one’s thoughts and feelings. However, with the rise of social media, many people now use platforms like Facebook to share their stories.
Despite these methods, there are challenges in leaving behind a lasting record of one’s life. Verbal stories are lost once the storyteller dies, diaries have limited distribution and longevity, and there can be third-party restrictions on what one can share.
The challenges in this context are solved by MyFabula, which is a platform for sharing personal stories. The word ‘fabula’ means ‘story’ in Latin, and the platform allows users to upload their stories in various formats, including images, text, voice, and video. The stories are shared in the MyFabula Metaverse, which consists of five chambers where users can interact with each other and explore different themes.
A five chamber Metaverse
Users can upload their stories through an app and access them through a Metaverse consisting of ‘five chambers’:
Auditorium
The first chamber is an auditorium where users can display their stories publicly, whether they are writers, dancers, or musicians. This chamber is designed to showcase the real you, something that others may not know about you. The idea is to encourage users to share their unique and personal stories with others in a public setting.
Library
The second chamber is the Library. This chamber serves as a storage space where users can collect information that they may want to use later, but are not sure where to put yet. Essentially, it’s a storage room for users to keep their data.
Vault
The third chamber is called The Vault. The Vault is a secure place to keep secrets, such as a person’s will or something that they are unable to talk about. Choi gives an example of a psychologist who informed him that many of her female clients have experienced trauma in their past, and the ability to store their secrets and time the release of their information could provide closure and justice, even after their death.
The Vault provides security and allows for the release of information at a later time. Choi notes that while not everyone may have secrets, the majority of people do, and the Vault is a safe place to store them.
Memorial Hall
The fourth chamber is called the Memorial Hall. This chamber is a place where people can leave behind their legacies and share their life stories with their loved ones and others in the future. It’s a way to ensure that people are remembered the way they want to be remembered and to leave a lasting impact on the world.
Tribe
The last chamber is called Tribe. It is a virtual site, where people can leave behind information about themselves for their loved ones to remember them after they pass away. This idea was suggested to him by a person with a Maori background, who expressed concern that intermarriage was causing them to lose their heritage.
Michael suggests creating a tribe where people can link their MyFabula accounts with others to validate their connection and preserve their heritage. This concept is particularly interesting for indigenous communities, but can also be of value for regular families or even in other contexts.
National War Memorial and Brisbane Olympics 2032 projects
MyFabula also has use cases outside of its original purpose. One of the projects is for the National War Memorial in Canberra. Choi said that the goal is to provide more information about the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country. Visitors of the memorial will be able to gain access to the personal story of a soldier via a QR code system.
Another project is an application of the Tribe chamber of MyFabula. The concept of legacy that can define a tribe or a family, according to him, is also applicable to great projects, to which many people contribute to make it successful. MyFabula will create a Tribe for the Brisbane Olympics 2032, which is not just about the infrastructure and stadiums.
This way MyFabula will commemorate the stories and contributions of volunteers, construction workers, project managers etc – to recognize and celebrate the contributions of everyone involved in the event.
MyFabula as a tool for reflection
MyFabula arguably provides most of its value over the long term. However, Choi also stresses the reflective element of the application. To further provide value in this way, MyFabula incentivises self-talk as a means of hearing your own thoughts and reflecting on them.
These recordings can also be published for the public or family members. Choi mentions that this could create a database for any user. If AI is allowed to access this database it can be used in various ways by the family, such as recreating the voice of a loved one or even having simulated conversations based on what a user left behind.
The revenue model of MyFabula
Choi said that MyFabula plans to offer both a one-off subscription or recurring payments over time. The company is exploring ways to store user information for up to 200 years and beyond, while also making it interesting and valuable to readers. One idea involves offering a perpetual account where readers can solve riddles linked to the deceased user’s memory hole for a chance to win a prize, with the proceeds helping to maintain the system. The company is also working on an NFT release.