Diverse content should just exist - that's the point.
Storyblocks, the subscription-based stock photo and video site (which is used by numerous industries to add photo and video content to articles, presentations, etc.), is today launching its Re:Stock campaign, in an effort to bolster the amount of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC content in its library. To this point, only five percent of its library features some sort of BIPOC content, which just isn't enough. It knows this and is listening to the 72% of Storyblocks users asking for more diverse content to be available to them for their projects.
Storyblocks wants to at least double the amount of its diverse photo and video content by the end of the year. To achieve this by that arbitrary date guided by the Gregorian calendar, Storyblocks is working with a fresh set of diverse creators featuring authentic, realistic portrayals of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. You know, real people doing real things. The only downside to Re:Stock is that it still requires specific keyword searches, rather than the generalities of search that would truly make it inclusive of all.
To wit: earlier this year free stock content site Pexels rebuilt its algorithm so searches returned photos and videos of all walks of life without the need for specific searches. This type of change, as these photo sites are realizing, is necessary in the 21st century. LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people are more representative of society and shouldn't be ignored as something other than the cis-white images we're used to.
The difference here is that Storyblocks is launching a content campaign, where Pexels changed its entire algorithm (for example, instead of having to use a qualifier one can just search for "wedding" and every variation of wedding will pop up, not just straight white ones). Regardless, it's still a step in the right direction for one of the most popular stock photo sites out there. An algorithm change is no small thing and every effort to be more inclusive and representative of society by a pay-to-play content site should at least get a hat tip.
"We created the campaign as a direct response to our creative community, which has been demanding more representation in stock footage," Sydney Carlton, Director of Brand Marketing at Storyblocks says via email. "We decided that the best way to meet this demand would be to hire creators who could create footage that authentically represented the content that was lacking in our library.
"We started by handpicking a cohort of talented filmmakers with an authentic perspective on underrepresented communities and who were aligned with our vision. The collections they created reflect their unique perspectives and gaps in content they found when looking for stock footage themselves. This cohort provided us with invaluable insights as we work to scale this method of creating more diverse stock video from diverse filmmakers who otherwise wouldn’t be stock media contributors."
Two of that cohort are filmmakers Monica Singleton and Samson Binutu who have created collections highlighting the experiences of BIPOC such as Black families educating their children, Black teens and adults in romantic relationships, family dinners at home and Black women enjoying the outdoors and nature. Because again, that's what the world looks like.
“In the past when I’ve looked for certain stock footage or music, it’s been really hard to find representation for people that look like me," says Singleton. "So, I was super excited for Storyblocks to come to me and ask me to be a part of this project."
Going forward on a weekly basis, Storyblocks will add new content to its Re:Stock campaign, highlighting the mundane bits of life as experienced by the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. While not totally a shift in content algorithms, this added content will help to thin out the white-washed content we're used to seeing on stock content sites with some much needed diversity.
