The document discusses the history of content creation and distribution. It describes how content was originally an oral tradition that relied on memorization and storytelling frameworks. The arrival of the printing press made content fixed to the page and less social. Now, with user-generated content online, we are returning to the oral tradition where content is more collaborative, audience-driven, and adaptable based on frameworks rather than fixed to the page. Content is becoming a more social act again rather than an individual endeavor controlled by authors and editors.

1. Designing Content
What we learned pre-Gutenberg, then promptly forgot

2. By definition, a publication is an
act of communication.
Its principle purpose is to get across an idea.

3. Historically, we’ve thought of
content as fixed.

4. We’ve been passive bystanders
to what authors write.

5. Authors had control over the
content and even, sometimes,
the context for where that
content appeared.

6. Authors could even predict
where audiences would
encounter the content.

7. Editors would decide what
audiences needed to hear; what
themes were important.

8. And authors would write
accordingly.

9. But, as we know,
this has all changed.

10. Professional authors and
writers of all kinds are
intimidated by content created
by users.

11. But, in fact, this is where we
started. Where all content
started.

12. Part 1:
Writing & Guttenberg, or
The Beginning of Content
Getting Trapped on the Page

13. The ubiquity of available texts
brought content to a large
number of people.

14. Content was paired with design
elements to make a point rather
than relying on the needs of a
live audience.

15. Content became less social, and
more an individual exercise.

16. What people read and what
people saw became less in
touch with the readers.

17. We relied on editors to tell us
what to read.

18. Reading became less of a social
act. It became an individual
endeavor.

19. Part 2:
Oral Epic Poetry, or
Really Long Stories That People
Seemed to Memorize

20. Before there was writing, there
were only stories.

21. Without recording in any form,
people had to rely on patterns
to remember stories.

22. The poetry is a collaborative
composition that takes place
over many generations. (Wiki)

23. The moment the reciter says
the story out loud, it is a
combination of composing
reciting, and performing.

24. Reciters create meaning
through rhythm by drawing
from a collection of formulas
and formulaic expressions.

25. While the framework of each
song is the same, each adds his
own style by ornamenting the
story. Thus, each has a
distinctive personality.

26. Content, by this definition, was
all about knowing ones
audience and relying on
frameworks to make an existing
pattern one’s own.

28. It was up to a select few to
create the framework, and the
community to write the stories.

29. In this way, content started as a
purely social act.

30. Part 3: Now, or a Return to
Important Aspects of Before

31. Early web content was just a
recital of what people already
knew.

32. It was closer to print than it was
to the oral tradition.

33. Even though
we’ve always
known how to
use frameworks,

34. And retell our
stories,

35. But what we’re seeing is a
actually a return to the oral
tradition.

36. A return to reliance on patterns.

37. And a return to content driven
by what live audiences need.

38. With a good framework,
anyone can tell a good story.