Web Buzz: Stories of rural America

Get to know your neighbors in rural America. A new app created by the Museum on Main Street within the Smithsonian Institution Travel Exhibition Service builds a dialogue with interactive oral history.

Name: Stories From Main Street

Available for: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

What it does: Shares the voices and stories of small-town America.

Cost: Free

What’s hot: Oral histories are underrated and a valuable tool for connecting generations. This app lets you record and share traditions and history from your town using the themes of sport, hard times, recipes, traditional music and more.

What’s not: Navigation seems to be overlooked in the app’s design. Yes, you can filter for voices —man, woman, boy or girl — and six types of stories, but other than that you have little choice in what you hear or where the historians are from. Where’s the map? Where are the photos of the towns we’re listening to or, better yet, the people? If you’re hungry for more content, visit the companion website at https://www.storiesfrommainstreet.org, which has more to it.

Worth it: If the sound of someone else’s voice will keep you company, then, yes, get the app. Otherwise, keep your eye out for an improved version. However, if you have a story to tell, well, that’s another story, get it and record your history.

— Jen Leo