Wakelet is a free tool that enables the user to curate information from social networks to build social stories, bringing together a variety of different media that is scattered across the Web. It provides a space to then add an additional layer by adding a narrative and enables the user to create a multimedia digital narrative that is interactive and social. By using Wakelet, it’s possible to cite content from others who are part of an online discussion or at the spot of an actual event while adding further text to provide clarifications and context from your end.

Essentially there are three key steps to create a Wakelet Collection:

1. Search
   Select a social network and search for social media content.
2. Add content
   Drag the best elements into your story and add your own narrative.
3. Share
   Via your chosen social networks or by sharing the URL or as a PDF.

A new feature just released is Wakelet Spaces:

1. On the left side of your homepage, you can find the small ‘+’ icon. Click this to add a new space!
2. Choose a name for your space and an image. You can choose to set your space as public or private by clicking Profile Visibility.
3. Now it’s time to populate it with collections. You can either:
   1. Create a brand new collection from within the space.
   2. Transfer a collection from your home profile to your new space. To do this, go to where your collection currently is, click the three dots ‘…’, click ‘Move collection’, and select which space you want to move it to.
4. Invite collaborators to your space. Once you’ve created your space, click Members on the side-panel on the left side of your home screen. From here you can access an invite code and QR code to share with your chosen invitees. They can use the code to access your space, by clicking ‘Got a code? Join a space‘, which appears once they’ve clicked the ‘+’ button mentioned in step one.

Benefits of using Wakelet

• Each story can be shared as a URL link
• Each element of the story can also be individually shared
• It is a useful way to amplify the voices of the originators
• Helps develop better web searching skills
• Incorporate multimedia (video, photos, tweets, online sources) with original writing

Here are some examples of how you can use Wakelet:

Using Wakelet to capture events

• Curate tweets shared during a conference
• Aggregate a timeline of events
• Reactions to important stories and breaking news
• Live tweeting and eye witness reports
• Gather social media responses about an event
• Curate the history of a given event as a timeline
• Create a narrative that can help readers makes sense of an event

Here’s one of my favourites examples where Wakelet was used to capture tweets celebrating Professor Phil Race’s retirement and 75th Birthday at the 2019 SOLSTICE Conference at Edge Hill University.

This is your Life Professor Phil Race (PDF) or via Wakelet https://wke.lt/w/s/8F40h1

Student uses for Wakelet 

• Curate resources for a research project.
• Develop an annotated bibliography.
• Capture key points from a lecture by note taking using Twitter and gathering as a story.
• Build a digital CV.
• Use Spaces with peers to create a shared collaborative set of collections.

Teacher uses for Wakelet

• Create a digital hand-out of readings or videos with questions to respond to.
• Curate a collection of videos you want to play during a class.
• Raise a question on Twitter and curate the responses as a story.
• Hold a Q&A tweetchat and curate the dialogue.
• Develop a class plan.
• Create multimedia how to guides.

Wakelet resources

How to videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/wakelet
Supprt: https://wakelet.com/@wakeletsupport
Blog: https://blog.wakelet.com/