So, I’ve been a little consumed with content curation recently–I get it.
For about six months, I’ve been searching for v.2 of this healthcare reform curation software that we built a few years ago, and I figure there must be a better way. As it turns out, I believe the architecture and design was pretty advanced for 2010, but we still need a refresh.
After writing my first post on content curation, I received a pingback from CurationTraffic.com, which led me to research Content Curation WordPress plugins. After a bit of research, I came across MyCurator–a software project of Mark Tilly. According to his site, “MyCurator works tirelessly in the background delivering a pipeline of content to you throughout the day, ready for your curation.”
After poking around on the site for a while, I contacted Mark to discuss more about the software, and he agreed to answer a few questions:
1. Why do you think content curation is such a hot topic right now?
MT: Fundamentally, there is just so much information out on the web that the old paradigm of using Search is failing. Not only is there too many relevant articles returned at any one search, but you have to keep going back to find the new ones.
The idea of content curation is that you can become a trusted source of focused content for your community or clients. By taking on the task of identifying the best content on a regular basis – becoming the active, focused search engine – you can build your authority and engagement with your audience.
A second element driving it is that Google’s search engine has focused internet properties on the need to develop content to increase their search rankings. Content curation can help with this, too as it is somewhat easier than creating new content every day.
2. What led you to start Target Info?
MT: I was using Google Reader to keep up with 50 or so blogs and news sites. After a while, I had over 1,000 unread articles – who can read that much? I initially developed Target Info to find ways to manage that content. My first product was sort of a spam filter for the web. It used AI techniques to filter content coming from an RSS feed, classifying it based on my feedback.
After embedding this technology into WordPress as a plugin, I became aware of the content curation buzz, and built it out as a tool for content curation – MyCurator.
3. What is the ideal result for someone using MyCurator?
MT: My ideal client uses MyCurator to build a consistent curation process for their blog or website. That process enhances their authority with their clients or community and results in a growing engagement of readers. Their curation practice also helps them get better and more prolific in their content creation. The net result is they significantly increase their overall business through better Search rankings, more leads or more subscribers.
4. Do you think that content curation is a fad or does it have staying power?
MT: I think we are in the ‘fad’ stage of curation. I think we will see most people drop out of the curation game. What will be left behind is the core group that puts in the time and effort to make it a consistent practice. They will get better and better at it, show great results and build new ways of using it that we can’t even imagine now. That is where the staying power will come from.
5. Does curation change the content creation game?
MT: I think that those who stay with curation and put in some time will find that they also become much better at creating content. Reading good writing, thinking about multiple points of view, trying to come up with your own opinions and comments. All of these aspects of curation make you a much better writer. After a while, I think you have more ideas for new content and are much better at writing it than you were before.
My hope is that curation will ultimately lead to more, and better, content creation. We will find that more and more people can learn the skills that it takes to write content by starting with curation.