Monday, May 23, 2011

Value of Curation

Business

Rothko room
(source)

Why is curation so important for the future of web content publishers? I believe the content curator is the next emerging disruptive role in the content creation and distribution chain. With increasing amount of information shared, curation is tremendously valuable service to anyone looking for quality information online: a subjective and qualified selection of the best and most relevant content and resources on a very specific topic or theme.

I could argue that a content curator is someone "who continually finds, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online". The most important component of this job is the word "continually."In the real-time world of the Internet, this is critical.

The idea of curation goes back to the art world, where galleries have for decades used professional curators to shape the experience of the visitor. This is the key element. As a curator, one has to think about the gallery visitors. The individual experience from the accessibility to the end thoughts about the art pieces are extremely important. And as the possibilities are endless, curation brings a lot of value to the experience. Afterall, I very much enjoy the explanations about the gallery's arts, on which I can build my own view.

Tate Modern
(source)

When we go back to online media, the value gained is not any different. Mastering how to create niche-targeted compilations of content is indeed one of the key lifesaving strategies that online publishers can adopt to offer greater value, even at a price, to those interested in it.

We live in a world where attention has become so scarce to become as valuable as currency. The ability to organize, select, compile and edit the most valuable information on anyone topic is ever needed.

Hence, I am well underway on working on a solution for this. :)

1 comment:

Helene said...

Great post Teppo! :)