Content is king. Everybody knows that and unsurprisingly: at #SxSW it is the talk of town. Roughly you can divide the online world in three big continents: the creators of content, the curators of content, and the consumers of content. Think of it as a pyramid: lots of people are consuming content, a selected number of people are curating content, and the smallest group is actually creating content.
And there used to be a pecking order: it was clear that creators were more valuable than curators. They were the thinkers, the thought leaders, the wizards and gurus. But as the quantity of content grew in a mindboggling way, the consumer went to look for people who curate content.
With all of the content out there, it became next to impossible for most people to filter the garbage from the gems, or to get timely access to premium content. Content may still be king, but curating is queen.
Precious (and monetizable ) value is added by the curator: he aggregates the avalanche of available content, filters it, screens it, reworks and packages it, and gets it to the consumer in a handy, unified and timely matter. Curators are the glasses through which a big part of the online consumers see the world. In fact, curators have de facto more power and influence than the creators. Without the curator, most creators have no significant reach… they need the curator to amplify their content. The curators of today are the superstars of tomorrow, and the recent godlike statuses of the curators of the Huffington Post and TechCrunch show it is happening now.
Curators can amplify, or close the gates to your content. You’d better start courting them soonest….