Recently I was helping a colleague who works in the design area. We were discussing the merits of blogs, photo sharing and other social forums which can be used well for business purposes. Although he’s not a luddite, he is not so keep on self promoting. He tends to let his work do his talking, rather than lead people to his own output. When I suggested he get busy with a a design blog or twitter account, he was hesitant.
I told him that some of my favourite blogs and tweeters aren’t the domains of original content, but finding and directing me to the great stuff that I am interested in. They become become a personal curator for me. And althought we might think that this is all very altruistic, there are benefits for the so called ‘curators’ too. What they share says a lot about who they are. What they value. Their taste in things and their industry knowledge and experience. It can show they really get it. The point is this:
Showing what we value often translates into what we are capable of. Displaying what we have already done, may only display the limited opportunities we’ve had so far. When collaborating in industry we should be far more concerned what people can do, that what they did do.
Startup Blog says: The social web no longer just requires content creators, but content curators.
Love this one!
Shane (@snueb via twitter)
inspiring post steve, thanks a lot. being a designer, this reminded me why it’s worth getting off my butt and getting it done 😉 fantastic blog, always consistently on the money, moreso than most other blogs. well done.
Glad it inspired you John.
Steve.
Again, very nice point. I believe that Guy Kawasaki is doing exactly this (curating content) with his AllTop site does. Clearly there is a need for this. However, there will never be a day where a collector is more valuable than the original artist, for that would be saying that a museum that displays works of fine art contributes more than the creaters of the works.