Curation Nation: Why the Future of Content Is Context

Citation

Lowe, B. (2012), "Curation Nation: Why the Future of Content Is Context", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 166-167. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761211206447

Rosenbaum's book is about an old term, curation (think museum curators!), in a new and powerful context (think online content). The author discusses the challenges faced by consumers and companies alike in responding to the face of the proliferation of information. What will the future of news media look like? How powerful are consumers becoming in voicing anger about brands? How should companies deal with these threats and opportunities? The book draws on a diverse range of examples from lesser known brands (e.g., “Panty By Post”) to better known brands (“The Huffington Post”), and it shows how these companies are prospering from curation. Curation involves the careful selection of products, services, and experiences and repackaging them in a format that adds value to consumers (e.g., doing the sorting and interpreting of information) and reduces their costs (e.g., the time costs of searching) – the curator is effectively another middleman. While curation is not new (e.g., museums employ curators, Reader's Digest is essentially curated content, etc.), Rosenbaum argues for its importance in transforming the online world because of the proliferation of uncensored web content from search. The book discusses the power of collaboration and the need for human interaction with online content in the form of editorship. In sum, the book provides a practical guide for the future of online content and the evolution of the digital world of search.

Chapter 1 begins by defining curation, using the museum curator's role as an analogy. While curation is not new, Rosenbaum argues that this process of editorship is becoming increasingly necessary to achieve meaningful content on the web. Chapter 2 takes a step back and gives a historical perspective to the idea of curation, and examines the rise of the “big curators” such as Reader's Digest and Time magazine. It compares these companies, and others, to newer curators such as the Streaming Gourmet.

The third chapter reflects on the rise of rapidly growing curators such as the Huffington Post and Newser (news aggregator), and compares their rise against more traditional competitors with more conventional (myopic?) business models. The rising power of consumers and their ability to influence other consumers' perceptions of the brand through negative and positive electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is reflected on in Chapter 4. This chapter also provides several other examples and illustrates the importance of proactively managing eWOM, using Pepsi as an example. The fifth chapter illustrates examples of content entrepreneurs and their journeys as successful curators to show some of the decisions they have made and the factors that lead to those decisions. It covers the revamping of AOL from a dial‐up ISP to a curator and the rise of About.com.

Chapter 6 practically explains the steps, tools, and techniques needed to design a curated website. It goes over the three main steps in publishing content, advertising on the website, and syndication. Chapter 7 discusses the future of magazines in terms of curation, pointing out possible trajectories for the magazine industry. It presents the views of proponents and opponents for the case that's being made. The main arguments against curation are pointed out in Chapter 8, which cites potential legal and moral issues. Chapter 9 discusses the interaction between humans and computers in providing content, and argues for the need of a blend with human actors and their subjectivity, and emerging web platforms with their automation benefits. The relationship between brands and consumers is discussed in Chapter 10, along with the increasing importance of brands to themselves in the process of curation. Chapter 11 looks at the increasing importance of networks, in the form of user‐generated distribution, to explain the role of networked content curators. Examples such as Youtube and Blip.tv are described in Chapter 12 to illustrate the future of user‐generated media. Chapter 13 cautions against letting content curators run wild. Whilst acknowledging the power of content curation, it focuses on the importance of a clear content strategy. Chapter 14 looks at the power of friend and social networks in providing legitimacy to search enquiries, using examples such as Facebook and Twitter. The question of whether or not content creators could be classed as “vampires” based on their role is dealt with in Chapter 15. Finally, Chapter 16 examines issues of finance and privacy for the process of curators.

The book is written in a free‐flowing, easy‐to‐understand, conversational style and is suited to anyone with an interest in e‐commerce and e‐marketing related subjects. Rosenbaum draws on a variety of impactful case studies based on first hand interviews with “curators” such as the Huffington Post, Newser, and Pepsi. These quotes illuminate the subject and the book in a useful way that engages readers and makes them want to get to keep reading until the end. The book addresses a clearly important topic in the e‐commerce world, but would not be suitable as a core text in internet related contexts. Instead it is really meant as a book to highlight contemporary issues about the nature of online content in a fast changing world. As such it would be suitable reading for anyone interested in the management of online content and its future. It would make excellent supplementary reading on courses in e‐marketing and e‐commerce at all levels and would be useful for many researchers and practitioners in the field.

The central themes in the book are illustrated with a variety of case studies from successful companies thriving on the distribution of curated content. While these add light to the topics discussed in the book, if one was to critique the book the case studies are nonetheless anecdotal and the findings should be interpreted with some degree of caution. What about survival bias? What about the failed curators? Curation is clearly important, but there appears to be space in the world for all sorts of curated and non‐curated content alike. How broadly should we define curation? Is a conventional newspaper a form of curation (i.e., a compilation of works by different writers)? These issues are complex and difficult to resolve, and the book does not try to address them. However, these are some issues one might keep in mind when reading the book. In summary the book makes for an enjoyable read on a subject that has the potential to revolutionize the way we view content on the internet. Rosenbaum makes a novel and thought provoking contribution by highlighting the nature of curation in a dynamic and changeable world; and does so as a curator! The key message from this book is that there is too much content in the online world, if left unmanaged; it can only be managed with the interaction of humans. As such, “Search is over. Curation has begun” (p. 254). Rosenbaum concludes by posing the question “What role do you want to play” (p. 255) in the curation nation?