Content Is Not Worthless
I was reading Jonathan Handel’s column on “Is Content Worthless?”
Ironic considering he writes for a firm that makes most of its profit thanks to “content.” :-)
Jonathan asserts there are 6 factors devaluing content:
- Supply & Demand – Meaning consumers have less leisure time to enjoy content.
- Loss of physical form – Meaning the electronic creation & distribution of content.
- Acquiring content is more frictionless – Yes it is and we’re proud to be part of that technology distribution platform.
- Most content is now ad supported instead of pay per view or subscription – He thinks consumers may demand that all content be free.
- Market forces in technology enable faster creation & distribution of content that traditional media fears due to worries about revenue stream cannibalization. Yep.
- Culture of a new generation hostile towards copyright. This is not a good thing.
Actually, I think the “Supply/Demand” thing is less about the “attention” deficit by consumers (you only get 2-15 seconds anyway) and more about the lack of high quality content. There is a true market demand right now for very high quality, low word count (less than 1000 words) content. Thin content only muddies the ‘content pond’ and makes it easier for us all to spot the very high quality content.
My message: “THIN CONTENT” is worthless and ubiquitous; “HIGH QUALITY ORIGINAL CONTENT” is king and will remain king/queen for a long time.
Your thoughts?
Perhaps his content is worthless…
Content is king and queen and thus royalty on the internet.
It has been, it is, and it will be.
Jeff
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