Content Curation: The Next Big Thing?

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Unless I am getting this all wrong, content curation, the term or any derivative of, has been very popular recently. So much so that top bloggers and news sites are little by little “mentioning” about it. Content curation, as I was able to gather could be good for many aspects, providing of course, just like anything else, is done properly. I received a comment on my recent post (more on that later), that describes in one way, what “properly” in this context means..

Thank you for the great review of CurationSoft! One of the things that might help people understand this as a totally different tool from article spinning or simply aggregating content from places onto your blogs is that the human element is required to do good curation.

Without commentary to make sense of the topic your write about (and including 3rd party information with it) it is just a list of links. With your “thought leadership” added, it becomes a truly new piece of work at adds value to your readers, much like what you see on the very large blog sites who do the same thing. It’s what makes people subscribe, come back to the site often, and builds links that help you in search – Jack Humphrey

Just like blogging and productivity tools, content curation tools are starting to surge. Soon, and don’t be surprised if you start seeing articles about “the best content curation practices”.

What am I really up to here with this post about content curation anyway? Well, two things…

First, I will really love to here your thoughts about content curation. Do you think that…

  • curating content will be the next big thing?
  • it will replace blogging as we know?
  • it will be a good marketing strategy?
  • it will help in social engagement?
  • it will be good for SEO?

Second, I would like to introduce you to a tool that I have been using to help me curate content. While it may not be the best of the best, for now, it is a tool that does its job well, and integrates with virtually any platform (WordPress, Blogger, even on Google+ and LiveWriter). If you know of any other curation tool that merits a shoutout, please let me know.

CurationSoft is the tool that I am talking about. I won’t be telling you much about it here as I already wrote an article, about it, on Hesham’s blogging contest. Please take a moment to head over there and leave your thoughts.  I do hope to discuss and hear your views about this tool further with you there. In any event, here’s a quick video presentation of what you can do with CurationSoft (sorry about the intro, I got a bit excited, lol).

The article: CurationSoft: Creating Content Has Never Been Easier

Download Your Free Version here

While I am at it, I would like to thank Hesham for yet again organizing such a great initiative. The man knows what he is doing when it comes to creating and organizing contest. It might look easy but it is not, so kudos to him.

Contest is a great marketing strategy for everyone who participates in it. Obviously, the success of the initiative will never be possible without the active participation of the contestants and the community who take the time to support their favorite bloggers.

Last but not least, I would also like to extend my thanks for this awesome sponsors, who helped with their generous offers to make this happen.

The Sponsors:

Main sponsors $500

Ideal Sponsor $300

Promote → daily deals on your website with the Deal Zippy API

Basic Sponsors $150

Meet the organizers

That’s it! Let us discuss about this topic that is so generating quite a lot of buzz lately. Thanks!

Image credit: QuoteMySource.com

DiTesco

DiTesco is a Business and Inbound Marketing Consultant, and founder of iBlogzone.com. iBlogzone's main objective is to help startups and small business owners achieve success in their online ventures. | More About Me and my Digital Marketing Services in SP Brazil.

43 thoughts on “Content Curation: The Next Big Thing?”

  • I don’t think it’s going to be the next big thing. Content curation is already a part of that one big thing we call social media.

    • That’s a thought? In a way, the social sphere does share content to the community. The only difference IMO, is that it is still too noisy and I would much rather pay attention to a curated post made by a trusted source, rather than someone who I am still in process of getting to know them 🙂

  • You’ve asked, so I’m going to answer. I hate the general concept of content curation. For the most part, no matter how it’s couched it’s stealing what should be copywritten material of other people, especially if you’re using software to help you do it.

    I’ll change up for a moment to address your questions. It’ll do all except the first one you asked, mainly because there will always have to be someone writing content for others to steal; yeah, I went there because I really feel that’s what it’s doing.

    Here’s my caveat. Using someone else’s post as an idea to write your own post, great. Linking back to it, wonderful stuff. Quoting it briefly while giving your opinion, expected. Taking an entire post from someone else, or even most of a post, and either writing nothing or one or a few lines… stealing.

    Yeah, I feel pretty strong about this type of thing; then again, I have over 3,000 articles online that I’ve personally written, that I’ve put my thought into writing, that I don’t enjoy knowing that someone out there is going to be using tomorrow, and I might not ever find out about it.

    • Mitch,

      You’re absolutely right about stealing other peoples’ content. But that’s not curation – that’s stealing. Software that does that would be called StealingSoft. 🙂

      You might want to check out what are linking to before commenting – it could have saved a lot of trouble. If you look at the links and see what people are referencing, it is impossible to get the impression that anyone here is talking about stealing content. That’s why I know you didn’t look.

      I’ve made the same mistake before lots of times – I burned myself by not checking sources before making comments. No biggie – happens to everyone. 🙂

      • Thanks Jack, but I wasn’t commenting on the software at all, just the terminology and the topic in general. As I told Frank, just last year content curation had a different meaning and software was being sold with the intention of stealing (aka scraping) from existing sites; I filed enough DMCA notices, that’s for sure.

        I would have clicked on the links if I’d had any interest in seeing the software, which I didn’t. I’d have read the previous post if that had interested me. In essence, I stand by my statement, and as DiTesco has said what the other product does, it fits my qualification of legitimacy while still condemning the scraping weasels. I’m good with it all, and I’ve known DiTesco for awhile so I made an assumption that he wasn’t starting up a scraping service.

    • HI Mitch. I do understand what you mean and IMO taking an entire post or even an excerpt of it without giving proper credit to its original source is flat out scrapping or “stealing” if you prefer. For that matter, I can not agree with you more.

      However, I think that you have precisely pointed out that “linking back to it” is not only reasonable but pretty much an accepted practice. What this software does is that it provides you with an easier way to find content so that if you want to “share” something of value about a given topic, it saves you time and cuts through the noise. I mean, the information that CurationSoft provides is nothing different from what you see when you do a search on Google for example. It has the title, a brief description of what the post is about and the link back to its “original source” for proper credit. I don’t think that “curating” content within this context can be considered a wrong doing. Actually, if done using the “best practices” it is sharing and telling everyone that this is good information and you should read it… Pretty much like what “other” content aggregators are doing out there.

      • DeTesco, I don’t consider that content curation based on an older definition of how it was being used, but if the definition is moderating itself then I’ll go along with it. Remember, even last year people were selling software under the “curation” name showing people how to scrape stuff off other sites, which irked me to no end. I tend to be kind of literal, as you know, so I was answering the questions and not talking about the software at all. Even with this definition, based on the questions, I think the responses I gave still work out.

        • Hi Mitch.. I’ve known you for a while now and I know how you feel about “scrapped” content. I do remember vaguely that there were some software and even “plugins” that was being sold out there with the sole intention of populating a blog on autopilot. Needless to say that, that was indeed nothing else but a “diplomatic” call for “benefiting” from other peoples content without their prior consent. We’re good my friend, just glad we got CurationSoft out of the way 🙂

  • DiTesco, I was happy to see you tossing your hat in the ring on Hesham’s contest. I wish you all the best! I seemed that the contest got a slow start but it’s really getting hot now so you can count on my support.

    • HI Ileane. Yeah, the contest did get a slow start and also why I decided to “toss my hat” in there as a support for our friend. Thanks for stopping by and for your support. really appreciate it

  • Hi,

    Nice post with nice info which is too great for all bloggers because content is the most important part of any site/blog post and we can’t imagination create site/blog post without that so you mentioned very well what should we do for that.

    • Thanks Sam. Content is indeed the lifeblood on any blog and curation is another form of content creation. Done well, it could help a great deal with your blogging efforts.

  • Hi DiTesco,
    This is just the 2nd time I heard about content curation and didn’t know what it is before reading your post on famousbloggers. You’ve done a great review there, I really love it.
    Wish you the best in the contest.

    • Thanks Tuan for your support and best wishes. Let me now if you decided to take the tool for a test drive. Would love to hear about your experience with it.

  • I think content curation is becoming day by day but I do not think it will any way replace original content blogging. Original Content for me, I feel will always be better than curated contents. None the less, if one can learn how to balance curated and original content in their blog then it may work wonder for them.

    • Shiva,

      No it certainly won’t replace original content creation. The thing curation does best is take the pressure off to always have ideas and time for original content. When people are pressured to create, their creations are often lacking. Curation helps keep up a publishing schedule while letting the ideas for original content come naturally rather than for the sake of posting something that day.

      • Oops I seemed to have missed to write the word ‘popular’ in my first comment. Anyways John Thanks for replying, I think I agree somewhat with what you said. Like I said in my first comment, curation must be used in a balanced manner with original content. Curated content do hold a lot of advantages like you mentioned like for example when someone is in a blogging or writing block or is having lack of ideas but like any other case, there will be some bloggers who will start misusing the curation strategy too and will start only posting curated content only for marketing advantages. By the way, thanks for coming up with CurationSoft, sounds to be a promising tool. I am also going to sign up for a free account and check it out. Thanks again for the reply

      • Well said Jack. Why did I not think of this one, lol.

  • I don’t think that curation content will ever replace blogging, cause these two things are too different…

    • I agree. While we are at it.. In your opinion, why are they different?

  • I’ve been toying around with the CurationSoft program after you recommended it last week. If nothing else, it is a great way to find content that I am interested in READING.

    I still struggle a little bit with how to properly blend it with my own writing and I think your point about commentary is a good one.

    • Hi Larry. That’s another way of using CurationSoft 🙂 and I’m sure that in time, should you wish to create a curated post or two, you will find that this could be very useful.

  • Hi Francisco – I agree that the subject of content curation seems to be everywhere at the moment. I’ve noticed that the feedback has been largely negative from active blogging communities.

    That said, I’m now heading over to promote your article…Good Luck!

    • Thanks Michael for promoting the article. As for the negative feedback, I believe that some people confuse the concept with other things. If you look around, there are a lot of people who recommend bloggers to create a “resource list”, “roundups” or “mashups”. I mean, what are they really? They are great content that you have found while visiting other sites and decided to combine them in a blog post to share with everyone. The way you “present” it also matters and it is different from just a “bunch ” of useless links.

      All the best

  • Just wanted to ask, what would be the success rate of content curation?

    • Hi Herbert. I would love to give you a straight answer on that, but I think that the success is tied up with your site as a whole and your marketing strategies, not just the individual “curated post” in itself.

      • I see.. Thank you sir, I will be reading more about content curation maybe its one way of lifting my blog 😀

  • I love the idea of content curation. It’s not stealing. In fact, it’s sharing what you have learned from other sites and compiling them so that others will be spared of the time to look out and find them one by one. It’s actually a genius idea for me. In the long run, I believe this would create strong bond in the community of bloggers and blog readers.

    • i agree with John , and i also love this idea and i think curation content will ever replace blogging ,

      • I agree Ioana. I don’t think that it will replace blogging. It is just another form to create content, and a good one IMO. I did ask the question to have a general feel of what people think about it.

    • My thoughts exactly John. The idea to filter the noise and share with your audience what you have learned from others sites is selfless act and is appreciated by many. Done properly, I agree with you that it could create a strong bond with the community. Thanks for you views.. Appreciate it

  • Content Curation is sure get more popular in the coming days. I don’t personally believe that it is going to be the next big thing, maybe it will become as popular as blogging.

  • When I think of curation, I think of sharing valuable information, while crediting the source you learned it from. online that includes linking, but think about this. I read TONS of self help books, and business books. they ALL curate content from other sources, sharing their own ideas and opinions as they do it.

    online, you just include a link when you do something that others have been doing for years. its nothing new, and helps to validate what you have to say by sharing other trusted resources.

  • Content curation has been big for awhile now. Look at places like Huffington Post, DrudgeReport, and Business Insider. They produce very little or none of their own original content. Curation is also good for people with short attention spans like me.

  • I agree with what most people are saying (which means my opinion is probably not very interesting…). I think that there is an overload of data on the internet now. We are constantly bombarded from all sides with “stuff” to read. When I find someone who is a GOOD curator – and by that I mean, someone who curates the articles that I am interested in and adds opinions or additional information that I find of value, I will follow that curator. It saves me the time of skimming through a huge amount of content to find the pieces that I need.

    I also agree that curation is very different than stealing. Stealing is stealing. People who steal content don’t add value. In fact, often all they add is their name. I think that good curation involves a conversation. I read an article and I write what I think about that article – what was valuable? What is my opinion of what the author was saying? It is a conversation between me and the author, and all of my readers. It is extremely important to provide the original source of the article, too.

    Lastly, I am now finding curated articles that are curating…you guessed it…curated articles. The curation of curations, if you will. Someplace buried deep within the levels is the original article. I’m not so sure how I feel about this yet. It just seems a bit removed from the source.

    Thanks for your post!

  • I don’t know if the tag “next big thing” is what I would call it, but once you get into the groove of find quality content and having a clean, fast, simple model to use (syndicate) your quality content using some of the tools/apps you mentioned, the process improves over time.

    Scoop.it is one of my preferred platforms, although you left out a few others that are almost as handy. Paper.li and Twylah to be more precise.

  • Content Curation is definitely the next big thing once it gets more word around. It’s gonna be beneficial and vice-versa.

  • The beauty of the Internet is to share information, which informs and makes life better. I understand how curation gives credit to the original producer of the content, but I’m confused about something else. I was reading that the curator can rewrite some of the original content. Is this true? If so, this is problematic since any rewriting can completely change how the original source is viewed. Is this true that a curator can rewrite sections of an original piece? Please help me understand. Thanks.

    • Hi Gina. I think that the concept of “curating” does not call for re-writing the content. Think of a librarian who curates books and decides to rewrite them. Does not make sense. What is recommended though is that the curator “write” in “their own words” an introduction or a small blurb of what the content is about and give their own views and opinion about it…

      • DiTesco, Thanks so much for clarifying. What you say makes sense to me, but I was a little worried after something I had read that led me to believe there were curators rewriting pieces of content. That would never work! Curating is valuable. There are so many times when someone else says it so much better than I could and I know it needs to be shared. Sharing content helps inform and enrich other people’s lives, while it also promotes the original writing.

  • Is #Curation the next big thing? Might just be looking at the facts. http://t.co/o3g9UpIw #NewhouseSM4 #Curation101

  • Have you had a chance to look at Paul Clifford’s Page One Curation software? Especially after the updates this week I think it’s going to blow every other tool out of the water.

    • Yeah, I have it. Paul’s POC is a great tool and saves a lot of time. Just won’t use it regularly 🙂

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