Curation And The Human Web... Posted by Tom Foremski - November 16, 2010 There is no doubt in my mind that the topic of curation and the Internet, is an important one and that it will be a dominant topic in 2011. Curation is important because we are reaching the limits of what can be achieved through algorithms and machines in organizing and navigating the Internet. Aggregation looks like curation but it's not. (Please see: Aggregation Is Not Curation - There Is A Big Difference - SVW) I define curation as a person, or a group of people, engaged in choosing and presenting a collection of things related to a specific topic and context.
Aggregation employs software (algorithms) and machines (servers) to assemble a collection of things related to a specific topic and context. Aggregation tools can be employed by curators but the human act of curation adds a layer of value that aggregation alone cannot provide. A good example is Techmeme, the news aggregator run by Gabe Rivera.
However, such approaches reach a natural limit. But What About the Content? Curation, Aggregation, and Creation. Perhaps the biggest pain point for many organizations isn’t getting their video online, but rather getting their video created in the first place. Fear not; whether you need to create your own content, have your customers or employees create it for you, or collect it from other sources, there are ways to get high-quality video content on your site without breaking the bank. At the Online Video Platform Summit, our session, "But What About the Content? Curation, Aggregation, and Creation", will examine the growing field of video curation and aggregation services, as well as offer pointers for getting your own content made quickly and inexpensively.
Confirmed speakers for this session include: Paolo Tosolini, Social Media and Online Video Consultant, Enterprise & Partner Group and Microsoft Services, Microsoft (Moderator) Paolo is an Enterprise Social Video consultant with a passion for people and creative ideas. Bruce Alfred, President, Cobblestone Inc. Why Curation Is Important to the Future of Journalism | Mfarhanonline. News curation: finally, social media's killer app? FORTUNE -- Even the most casual social network user will admit that the Facebook or Twitter experience can be overwhelming -- that merciless stream of status updates and shared content, which sometimes feels less like a stream and more like a deluge, waits for no man, woman, or Web crawler.
Of course, there's good reason to feel that way: Facebookers share 30-billion plus pieces of information each month, and Twitter users output 1 billion tweets weekly. There's a tremendous amount of digital information floating around and few great solutions for filtering it, making sense of it, and consuming it. That's changing. Nicholas Negroponte foreshadowed the current state of things back in 1995 with the "Daily Me," a customized news experience, but it's only been over the last 18 months that his idea has manifested itself via mainstream products and services. They all work differently. That same concept is at the core of the Twitter-focused start-up Sulia. More from Fortune: Curation - The Third Web Frontier. Posted by Guest Writer - January 8, 2011 Here is a guest article by Partice Lamothe - CEO of Pearltrees (Pearltrees is a consulting client of SVW.)
This is a lightly edited version of "La troisième frontière du Web" that appeared in the magazine OWNI - Digital Journalism - March 2010. The article argues that the founding pricinciples of the Internet are only now being implemented and that the next frontier is in organizing, or curating, the Internet. By Patrice Lamothe Everyone realizes that the web is entering a new phase in its development. One indication of this transition is the proliferation of attempts to explain the changes that are occurring. Although these explanations are both pertinent and intriguing, none of them offers an analytical matrix for assessing the developments that are now underway. The "real time web," for example, is one of the clearest and most influential trends right now. In contrast, other explanations are far too broad to serve any useful purpose. Content Curation versus Content Creation | Uptown Treehouse Blog. As many of us know, in the social media marketing game content is king!
Without anything to Tweet about or post about on Facebook our communities would fall by the wayside and our customers would stop listening to us. For most brands, the first question that must be answered before starting a social media strategy is “Where do we find good content to post about?” Creating content can be very expensive and time consuming. Most marketers cannot rely on their own content alone to fill an editorial calendar and to keep the conversation moving forward.
At Uptown Treehouse, we are responsible for reaching technologists and software developers on behalf of our Microsoft clients. Amongst the two communities that we manage on behalf of Microsoft we are responsible for 20 Tweets and 5 Facebook posts every day. RSS Feeds: Identify a list of blogs and news sources that consistently publish content that your audience enjoys.
Twitter Lists: Google Alerts: Facebook Lists: Twitter Searches: Content Strategy: How and Why to Curate Content. Most of us understand the value of sharing information. But when the information belongs to others, we wonder “what’s the point?” Yet, as massive amounts of information abound, the art of content curation can help us provide resources to our audiences while positing ourselves as an authority. Here’s how. Curate When You Can't Create It takes more than just words to create content. Content worth sharing takes time and insight to develop, which isn’t always available. Where do you turn to find new ideas or inspiration? Pointing others away from your site shouldn’t be regarded as poor marketing, but rather as a savvy way to position yourself and your company as an industry authority. Additionally, sharing secondary resources says that you and your company thinks outside the box.
How did you present it to them? Like any good museum exhibit, it’s important to have your visitor understand the relevance of the information provided. The Wisdom on Curated Content. The Content Strategist as Digital Curator. The term “curate” is the interactive world’s new buzzword.
During content creation and governance discussions, client pitches and creative brainstorms, I’ve watched this word gain traction at almost warp speed. As a transplant from museums and libraries into interactive media, I can’t help but ask what is it about this word that deserves redefinition for the web? Article Continues Below Curation has a distinguished history in cultural institutions. In galleries and museums, curators use judgment and a refined sense of style to select and arrange art to create a narrative, evoke a response, and communicate a message. For a long time, we’ve considered digital objects such as articles, slideshows, and video to be short-lived.
Consider some examples: NYTimes.com Topics employs content managers who sift through The Times’ archive to create new meaning by grouping articles and resources that were filed away (or distributed to library databases). What’s the payoff? Why Impresarios (Not Algorithms) Will Rule Web Video. According to a number of predictors, and my friends, 2011 is going to be the year of curated video. The old, algorithmic approach is out, and instead we'll see audiences flocking to videos selected for your viewing pleasure by friends (in the case of Facebook) and experts (maybe even from YouTube).
Yes, it looks like "curation" is bound to be the first big buzzword of 2011. But when it comes to video, before there was curation there was programming. The kind that big network honchos would do. Take Fred Silverman, for example. Back when he was curating network TV, there were only three networks to watch. Even though many of the principals are similar, what worked for network TV won't drive web video to success. We're going to see a lot of blather over the next months about video curation, but remember that it's really just an extension of network programming.
It's about the audience Silverman changed the face of Saturday morning programming by understanding, and super-serving, the kids. Content Strategy: The Philosophy of Data. Not that familiar with “content strategy?” That’s ok. It’s in my job title, and I struggle every time I’m asked what I do for a living. Many people have no idea what it means, but even more people bring their own (wrong) assumptions to the conversation. Usually they think it has something to do with writing copy. That’s not entirely false, but it’s kind of misleading. The analogy I’ve been using recently is that content strategy is to copywriting as information architecture is to design.
The irony of this communication challenge is that the main goal of content strategy is to use words and data to create unambiguous content that supports meaningful, interactive experiences. So, why has it been so hard for us to communicate what we do? Perhaps the problem is that, because content is so pervasive, everyone thinks they know all there is to know about it. Everything is content Everything is content? The question “What constitutes sameness?”
Critical mass Time to get practical. Why Social Media Curation Matters - Technorati Blogging. Over the past few weeks I've raved about the current raft of social media curation start-ups. I've rambled on and on about all of the new features that are being added to sites like Curated.By, Storify and Keepstream. What I haven’t explained to my friends, family, Twitter followers and just about anybody I engage in tech conversation with for more than a couple of minutes, is why it all matters. With registered Twitter users numbering somewhere in the region of 150 million, their fire hose is pumping out tens of millions of tweets a day. Granted, not all of this data is worth capturing. So, how do you decide what’s worth keeping? How do you spot the difference between a gold-plated tweet (a seemingly important post that over time loses its shine), a fool's gold tweet (a spurious tweet that initially draws attention but quickly loses its value), and the solid gold tweet?
Curating the Best of the Web: Video. The Internet is awash in content — and a whole lot of it is junk, spam or inane status updates. How do you begin to navigate through the zillions of news articles, Web sites, tweets and other stuff online to find content that matters to you? You need digital curators. To see the full article, subscribe here. Screen shot of Nizmlab, a site that sifts through online videos. Screen shot of Chunnel.tv.