[Purpose/significance] Visual storytelling is being used more and more in practice, especially on networkplatforms. Sorting out and summarizing the characteristics, methods and applications of visual storytelling is importantfor the further development of data visualization and the interdisciplinary integration of data science.[Method/process]In this paper, we systematically sort out the characteristics of visual storytelling firstly, then analyze the different typesof visual storytelling through multiple practical cases, reveal the realization methods of visual storytelling, and describethe design of different applications. [Result/conclusion] The study found that interactive visualization research, theo?retical models, theoretical research focus and special development tools need to be further deepened.