The Story That Didn’t End Where It Should Have
The Drift - Essay 14
When storytelling leads to unintended consequences.
A communicator wrote to me about something that happened long after a project had finished. It’s one of those moments that doesn’t show up in metrics but settles in the pit of your stomach.
They had profiled a client—a small, warm piece.
A name. A photo. A job title. A simple explanation of why they chose a service.
Consent signed. Shared. High engagement. Positive comments. It felt harmless. Familiar. The kind of story we’ve all created.
And then it faded, the way content does.
Months later, the client started getting calls. Accounts they hadn’t opened. Purchases they hadn’t made. Debt they didn’t recognize. At first, they brushed it off. Then they couldn’t. It was fraud— and while no one can prove the source, the only public thread that tied the details together was that story.
The communicator told me they felt sick.
Not because they’d done something reckless.
But because they’d done something ordinary — the kind of ordinary that feels different once you see what it can become.
“I am still haunted knowing I may have set this in motion.”
In the aftermath, the organization quietly changed its storytelling policy. Opting to build trust through evidence based and scenario modeling.
For the communicator, it’s fundamentally changed their view on using a real human voice.
“My biggest worry used to be about telling a good story. Now I see it as harmful, exploitive and risky. It was fine to use before social media and AI, but it’s a practice that’s out of date.”
I keep thinking about how many times I’ve asked someone to share something personal, believing it was safe. Believing it was helpful. Believing it was just a story.
But stories aren’t just stories anymore.
They’re searchable. Scrapeable. Permanent.
They travel into places we never intended.
And sometimes, they open doors we didn’t know existed.
I don’t have a clean ending for this.
Just a sense that the old way doesn’t fit the world we’re in.
And the realization that ‘trust’ might need new ways of being built—ones that don’t begin with asking someone to step forward and share their story.
Here’s where to go next:
The Drift is part of a broader ecosystem: Quick Wins offers everyday practice, and the AI Toolkit supports the practical tools communicators use and the AI Change Management Plan supports workplace adoption. Together, they outline the realities of modern communication work.
