Creation, curation, and the ethics
of content strategy Margot Bloomstein Web 2.0 Expo 101111 @mbloomstein #CSethics / #W2E

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| @mbloomstein3 AMASSING IS NOT CURATING.

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| @mbloomstein5 HOARDING IS NOT CURATING.

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| @mbloomstein7 AGGREGATING IS NOT CURATING.

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| @mbloomstein8 Curation filters the flood of content for the specific purpose, place, time, and audience

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| @mbloomstein11 Curation filters the flood of content so that the audience can take meaning from it

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| @mbloomstein12 Curation filters the flood of content so that the audience can take meaning from it How can I use this information? What’s most important about this topic? How is this relevant to me or me today?

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| @mbloomstein13 Curation filters the flood of content so that the audience can take meaning from it What five things should I buy first? What can get me up to speed on the news? How can I best interact with you?

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| @mbloomstein14 But what if it doesn’t create new meaning?

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| @mbloomstein15 But what if it doesn’t create new meaning? If we’re not doing that, what is the value in what we are doing? Without new meaning, can content be valuable?

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| @mbloomstein16 Creation Curation Ethics

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| @mbloomstein17 Creation

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| @mbloomstein21 But addition isn’t creation.

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| @mbloomstein22 But addition isn’t creation. Danger Mouse selected parts, remixed existing music, and designed new elements to integrate.

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| @mbloomstein26 Tough choices: Selection Creation Emphasis

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| @mbloomstein27 “The street is a theater, though with free admission.” Henri Cartier-Bresson

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| @mbloomstein28 exploration engagement+ creation?

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| @mbloomstein29 exploration engagement+ creation? selection exclusion editing preservation arrangement emphasis archiving expiration

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| @mbloomstein30 Creation is the act of making new meaning from the world, and often, sharing it with others.

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| @mbloomstein31 Creation is the act of making new meaning from the world, and often, sharing it with others. Interface Action and actor Synthesis Engagement, publishing, dissemination

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| @mbloomstein32 But is that enough?

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| @mbloomstein33 Do we also require the artist or content creator to offer a point of view?

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| @mbloomstein34 Do we also require the author or website or newspaper to offer a point of view?

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| @mbloomstein35 If so, what do we call that?

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| @mbloomstein36 Creation Curation

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| @mbloomstein37 “All history is provisional, and any retrospective worth looking at expresses a point of view.” Peter Galassi, Chief Curator, MOMA Department of Photography

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| @mbloomstein38 “All history is provisional, and any retrospective worth looking at expresses a point of view.” Peter Galassi, Chief Curator, MOMA Department of Photography Reliable narrator?

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| @mbloomstein39 “All history is provisional, and any retrospective worth looking at expresses a point of view.” Peter Galassi, Chief Curator, MOMA Department of Photography Storyteller?

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| @mbloomstein40 “All history is provisional, and any retrospective worth looking at expresses a point of view.” Peter Galassi, Chief Curator, MOMA Department of Photography Trustworthy arbiter of reality?

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| @mbloomstein43 What does curation entail?

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| @mbloomstein44 “First we conceive the subject that will bring new insight to both the general public and experts.” George Shackelford, Museum of Fine Arts Boston Chair, Art of Europe and Solomon Curator of Modern Art

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| @mbloomstein45 Scope and perspective

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| @mbloomstein47 Scope and perspective Cultivation, aggregation, editing

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| @mbloomstein48 “Then we figure out the works that should be in the show and use contacts in the field. Some are held in reserve, some we may not get, and some we have no way of tracking down.”

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| @mbloomstein49 Human Automation Aggregation CultivationFiltering Hunting Prioritization

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| @mbloomstein50 Scope and perspective Cultivation, aggregation, editing Building the story for the target audience

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| @mbloomstein51 “Next we put together the catalog, a book of the exhibition—not an entry for each piece. A narrative allows us to tell the story better and more concisely than if we had to comment on each object.”

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| @mbloomstein52 Scope and perspective Cultivation, aggregation, editing Building the story for the target audience Organization, juxtaposition, hierarchy, and emphasis

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| @mbloomstein53 “I control where things go on the wall and in what sequence. I shape the visitor’s experience: I pair things, create groups, and consider scale.”

© 2011 #CSethics / #W2E
| @mbloomstein54 chihuahuas vs. great danes?

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| @mbloomstein56 “There’s creativity in the intervention I make in what I choose for you to see— an exercise that has an effect on how you understand a subject.”

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| @mbloomstein57 Organization

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| @mbloomstein58 Scale & hierarchy

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| @mbloomstein59 Juxtaposition

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| @mbloomstein60 Emphasis

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| @mbloomstein61 Scope and perspective Cultivation, aggregation, editing Building the story for the target audience Organization, juxtaposition, hierarchy, emphasis Bias

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| @mbloomstein62 Curating requires a curator.

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| @mbloomstein63 “The public ought to recognize there’s a person behind what they’re seeing. But the art, not the organization, is the purpose—that’s why we’re a museum, not a publishing house.”

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| @mbloomstein64 Digital curators at Realtor.org follow these same steps to curate Field Guides: Specific to a topic Mined from customer service calls Updated on a set editorial calendar Curating resources, examples, and data

NAR’s perspective + Original content
+ Curated content

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| @mbloomstein67 Curation is an act of creating new meaning by combining existing content with new perspective.

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| @mbloomstein68 Curation is an act of creating new meaning by combining existing content with new perspective. Perspective is the unique purview of humans.

© 2011 #CSethics / #W2E
| @mbloomstein69 Curation is an act of creating new meaning by combining existing content with new perspective. Perspective is the unique purview of humans. Without that, it’s just aggregation.

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| @mbloomstein70 Accidents vs. intentions— and where do algorithms fit in anyhow?

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| @mbloomstein71 This is selecting, not curating.

This is a faulty algorithm,
not human.

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| @mbloomstein73 Content strategy demands human oversight.

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| @mbloomstein74 Curating calls for emphasis in organization—and visual sense.

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| @mbloomstein75 Creation Curation Ethics

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| @mbloomstein76 How can you tell the story and maintain the integrity of the content you curate in new contexts?

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| @mbloomstein77 “Deleting the Petri dish so that people see the yeast colony is a more responsible representation.” Felice Frankel, photographer and scientist

© Felice Frankel

© Felice Frankel

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| @mbloomstein80 Up for debate?

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| @mbloomstein82 “Every punch has to be worked out. Not four cameras and then you cut it together in the editing room. That’s selecting, not directing.” Martin Scorsese on Raging Bull

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| @mbloomstein83 How can we hold ourselves responsible if we don’t have communication goals to which we’re accountable?

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| @mbloomstein84 What are we trying to do, anyway?

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| @mbloomstein85 What are we trying to do, anyway? Persuade?

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| @mbloomstein86 What are we trying to do, anyway? Inform?

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| @mbloomstein87 What are we trying to do, anyway? Sell?

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| @mbloomstein88 Ethical content strategy and curation demand a concrete perspective.

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| @mbloomstein89 Ethical content strategy and curation demand a concrete perspective. What is most important?

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| @mbloomstein90 Ethical content strategy and curation demand a concrete perspective. What’s the message you’re trying to send?

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| @mbloomstein91 Ethical content strategy and curation demand a concrete perspective. Can you sustain it cohesively and consistently through the experience?

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| @mbloomstein92 “Sustainable content is content you can create—and maintain— without going broke, without lowering quality in ways that make the content suck, and without working employees into nervous breakdowns.” Erin Kissane, The Elements of Content Strategy

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| @mbloomstein93 What are we trying to do, anyway? • Create by engaging and sharing

© 2011 #CSethics / #W2E
| @mbloomstein94 What are we trying to do, anyway? • Create by engaging and sharing • Curate with human oversight & perspective

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| @mbloomstein95 What are we trying to do, anyway? • Create by engaging and sharing • Curate with human oversight & perspective • Commit to a transparent, intentional, sustainable strategy

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| @mbloomstein96 Thank you! Rick Allen, Felice Frankel, Erin Kissane, Mike Lohmiller, Hilary Marsh, Tamsen McMahon, Mary Martinez-Garcia, George Shackelford, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Content Strategy New England, and the Content Strategy Google Group. Cartier-Bresson works © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos. Books www.flickr.com/photos/tansengming/2728694064. Hoarding © AETV. Niagara Falls CC www.flickr.com/photos/zaniac. Water CC www.flickr.com/photos/mariela/72464475.

© 2011 #CSethics / #W2E
| @mbloomstein97 But wait! There’s MORE! • Content Strategy Google Group • Meetup.com/  your local content strategy chapter • Twitter: follow #contentstrategy • Content Strategy at Work, coming this spring!

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| @mbloomstein98 Thank you! Margot Bloomstein @mbloomstein margot@appropriateinc.com slideshare.net/mbloomstein #CSethics /#W2E