What is driving the rapid growth of Content Curation, and what are the key literacies required of the emergent social/digital content curator?

1. Image source: www.timslatter.com
19 March 2013
Steve Dale
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2. 2
What is
“curation”?

3. 3 Digital
Media
Cura4on
© http://dilbert.com

4. 4

6. 6
Why Curate?

7. 7
Source:
h8p://scoop.intel.com/what-­‐happens-­‐in-­‐an-­‐internet-­‐minute/

8. 8
Useful
And
Relevant
Informa4on?
• 40 % of accounts and 8% of messages on social media sites are robots or
spam
• 24% of people have missed witnessing important moments because they
are too busy trying to write about them on social networks
• 40% of people spend more time socializing online than they do face-to-face
(source: AllTwitter)
• The web contains more than 8 billion pages
• There are more than 2.27 billion people online (doubled since 2007)
• There will be more than 10 billion mobile Internet-connected devices in
2016, exceeding the world's projected population at that time of 7.3 billion.
(source: Cisco)
• Worldwide mobile data traffic will increase 18-fold between 2011 - 2016,
reaching 10.8 exabytes per month - or an annual run rate of 130 exabytes
- by 2016. (source: Cisco)
• 85% of the people who work in social media have been in the industry for
less than 2 years.
Sources include: http://thesocialskinny.com/216-social-media-and-internet-statistics-september-2012/

9. 9

11. Quantity is growing at
the expense of quality and
relevance

12. Knowledge from a
trusted source is
richer than what we
can discover for
ourselves

13. 13
How
credible
are
your
sources?

14. 14
Digital Curation -
where is it
happening?

15. Digital
Cura4on
is
happening
all
around
us
• Social media platforms are curating content, by giving curation tools to users
(YouTube playlists, Flickr galleries, Amazon lists, etc.)
• Media entrepreneurs are building new types of media platforms around
posting excerpts from the most relevant stories from around the web (
The Drudge Report, The Huffington Post, etc.)
• News media organizations are curating conversations around popular topics
e.g. The Guardian #smarttakes)

16. Created-­‐Contributed-­‐Collected
New
media
startups
are
providing
a
mix
of
original
content,
curated
content
and
crowdsourced
content
to
add
depth
to
news
stories
and
increase
social
engagement
around
them.

17. Storyful: It’s all about people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQUGJ4O0ZPM

18. 18
New roles,
new
literacies

19. 19
Digital Literacy
• Ability to use digital
technology,
communication tools
and networks to
locate, evaluate and
create information
Tool Literacy
• Ability to use tools to
manage, consume and
create information
Source: Dr Daniel Churchill, www.learnactivity.com
Today’s
(new)
Literacy
Information
Literacy
• Ability to identify
what information is
needed and the ability
to locate, evaluate and
use information
Visual Literacy
• Ability to understand
and produce visual
messages
Traditional
Literacy
• Reading, writing,
speaking, listening,
Critical Literacy
• Ability to question,
challenge and evaluate
the meanings and
purposes of texts
Media Literacy
• Ability to question,
analyse, interpret,
evaluate and create
media messages

20. Quality,
Relevance
and
Reputa4on
Social Curator
Adapted from Seek-Sense-Share model by
Harold Jarche
Cynefin Model

21. Two
Emergent
Roles
for
Knowledge
Professionals
Community Management/
Facilitation
Social/Digital
Curation

22. Social
Cura4on

23. 23
Some of the
tools

24. Aggrega4on
&
Filtering
24

25. Source: http://www.youbrandinc.com/ultimate-lists/ultimate-list-content-curation-tools-platform/

26. Digital/Social
Cura4on
-­‐
some
of
the
tools
“Curators” use their insight into a
particular audience to determine
what might interest them

27. Paper.li
Enables
the
curator
to
automa4cally
create
an
on-­‐line
newspaper,
selec4ng
content
using
keywords,
conversa4ons
and/or
links
to
websites
that
are
relevant
to
a
par4cular
Pros
• Good
topic
or
theme.
Freemium
product.
$9/month
for
Pro
version
integra4on
with
most
social
media
services
• Simple
subscrip4on
process
for
new
followers
• Clean,
newspaper-­‐style
layout
with
naviga4on
links
• Highly
automated
• Email
newsle8er
(Pro)
• No4fica4on
controls
(Pro)
Cons
• Limited
metrics
• High
ac4vity
sources
may
“swamp”
content.
• Some
ads
may
not
be
contextually
relevant
• Cura4on
of
sources,
not
content.

29. Scoop.it
Cura4on
of
summaries
and
snapshots
of
related
content
from
blogs,
media
sharing
sites
and
other
social
media.
Intui4ve
interface.
Built-­‐in
curators
community.
Freemium
product.
Pro
-­‐
$12.99/month.
Business
$79/month
Pros
• Elegant
+
clean
magazine-­‐style
design
• Limited
automa4on
-­‐
curator
has
total
control
of
content
• Curator
can
add
insight
to
‘scooped’
content.
• Community
of
curators
+
auto-­‐
suggested
content
• Email
newsle8er
(integrated
with
Mailchimp
-­‐
free)
• No
ads
Cons
• Limited
metrics
(free
version)
• Limited
text
formacng
(free
version)
• Not
for
the
novice
curator
-­‐
you
need
some
editorial/cura4on
skills

30. Suggestions from Scoop.it
community
Enables users to ‘re-scoop’
to their own
curated content.

31. Storify
Enables
the
curator
to
search
for
specific
content
from
social
media
sites
that
can
be
sequenced
into
a
blog
style
story.
The
curator
can
add
their
own
text
and
embed
the
Pros
• Provides
sequenced
story
of
an
event
• Simple
&
intui4ve
editor
interface
• Integra4on
(pug-­‐in)
with
Wordpress
• SXSW
award
winner
2012
• No
ads
final
product
into
their
blog.
Free
service.
Cons
• What
is
their
business
model?

33. Pearltrees
A
visually-­‐oriented
connec4ve
network
of
mul4-­‐media
content,
which
can
be
shared,
repurposed
and
linked
in
a
number
of
ways
across
social
media
plaiorms.
The
Pros
• Excellent
visual
bookmarking
interface
• One-­‐click
bookmarking
• Visual
roll-­‐overs
• SXSW
award
winner
2012
• Can
bring
other
people’s
Pearls
into
your
own
Pearl.
‘Teams’
group
func4on
enables
users
to
collaborate
to
create
shared
curated
collec4ons
of
content.
Freemium
service.
Premium
2.60
Euros/month
Cons
• Limit
of
12
child-­‐parent
rela4onships
at
each
level
under
top
level
• Naviga4on
can
be
confusing
for
new
users

35. Exercise
What does Content
Curation best practice
look like?

36. Content
Cura4on
Best
Prac4ce
1. Optimises titles so it is relevant for that audience
2. Edits the content to add further relevance of the message
3. Formats the material so it is easy for the audience to read and apply to their situation
4. Adds good images and other visual material that complements and reinforces the content
5. Excerpts selected text so the reader can quickly and easily grasp the most important elements
6. Adds his or her own voice in an intro to the piece, adding context and relevance for the reader
7. Tags all content with relevant words and phrases so it is easily found by that audience
8. Supplies links to expand the scope of the piece and give access to added resources about the
subject
9. Personalises each piece for the relevant audience when posting to social sites, when appropriate
10. Ensures all curated content is correct and from a reliable source
11. Always gives attribution and links to sources
12. Filters content vigorously and does not publish anything and everything
13. Has a network of experts and curators in their sphere that they can tap into for personal insights
14. Suggests stories and items to other curators
15. Searches for additional material that can add depth and value or context to an item
16. Constantly scouts for interesting new sources
17. Sets up searches, filters and feeds to get a constant flow of relevant information
18. Makes the focus of the curated content perfectly clear and easy to see right upfront
19. Recommends other newsmasters and curators with great content
20. Crowd sources tips and suggestions from readers and always acknowledges their contribution
Source:
h8p://www.masternewmedia.org/what-­‐makes-­‐a-­‐great-­‐curator-­‐great/

37. Take-aways
37
• Information is everywhere, all the time and on any
device. We’re sacrificing quality for quantity and
accuracy for timeliness.
• Finding what is relevant, accurate and trustworthy are
the new digital literacies.
• Digital Curation is an emergent skill/role with the
objective of separating news from noise.
• Social Curation integrates original content with
contributed and collected content to add depth and
increase social engagement. (Community Building)

38. 38 What is “Curation”? (from Percolate.com)
This is the first in a series of videos explaining the shifts we're seeing in the world of
content creation. Curation has exploded with the growth of Twitter, Tumblr and now
Pinterest. In this video, we wanted to try to get into the heads of some of our favorite
curators to understand what makes them tick.
Featured curators include:
Maria Popova (twitter.com/brainpicker)
Joanne McNeil (twitter.com/rhizomedotorg)
Peter Hopkins (twitter.com/bigthink)
Edith Zimmerman (thehairpin.com/)
Anthony De Rosa (soupsoup.tumblr.com)
Rex Sorgatz (twitter.com/fimoculous)
Piers Fawkes (psfk.com)
Tina Roth Eisenberg (swiss-miss.com)
http://vimeo.com/38524181

39. Sources
+
Useful
References
Robin Good: Content Curation World: http://curation.masternewmedia.org/
Social Media Curation Guide: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/social-media-curation-guide
What makes a great Curator: http://e1evation.com/2011/12/23/what-makes-a-great-curator-great-how-
to-distinguish-high-value-curation-from-generic-republishing/)
10 steps to curate your social media content with Scoop.it: http://socialmediapearls.com/10-steps-to-
curate-your-social-media-content-with-scoop-it-for-increased-value/
Storyful (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQUGJ4O0ZPM
What is curation (video): http://vimeo.com/38524181
Cara Pring - Social Media & Intranet Statistics: http://thesocialskinny.com/216-social-media-and-internet-
statistics-september-2012/
Graphic - what happens in an Internet Minute: http://scoop.intel.com/what-happens-in-an-internet-
minute/
Today’s New Literacy: Dr Daniel Churchill, www.learnactivity.com
Cover image courtesy of www.timslatter.com
Other photos and images sourced from Google images and iStock Photos.

40. Email:
steve.dale@collabor8now.com
Twi8er:
@stephendale,
@collabor8now
Profile:
h8p://about.me/stephendale
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