Does content really matter?

Noah Briar has put up an interesting presentation on Slideshare – Everything is media. It's a good roundup of the way that everyone can now be a content creator, how quality doesn't matter so much any more and how the distribution channel/media is just as important as the content itself (in fact more so).

I loved the presentation but disagree on this last point. Yes there is shed-loads of content being uploaded every minute, enough to keep us all watching almost forever. And yes, most of it has pretty low production values. But, most of it is consumed by hardly anyone. While Charlie bit my finger has over 250 million views as of today, the vast majority of long-tail content only manages 10s or 100s.

While the medium is important – and those who ride the wave of new developments benefit from being bigger fish in smaller ponds – the advantage is limited. It is an endless game of catch-up. Now everyone is tweeting, the novelty is wearing off and it's on to the next thing (geolocation anyone?).

The message of any medium may well be the change it creates in human affairs but that isn't the same as the role and purpose of content. The right content attracts attention, creates bonds and can change behaviour. The medium adds value and power to this but doesn't in itself replace it.

Having said all that, it's a good presentation and IMHO most of the recommendations are sound.

Everything is Media

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