Creating Lasting Connections With Content Curation
Contrary to popular belief, content curation isn’t a misguided and old school notion intent only upon filling your feeds and allowing you to toe the line on the 80/20 rule.
Lately there have been several articles about the dark side of content curation. These articles are on the mark, so I’m not calling anyone out here. Content curation, poorly planned and executed, can be a time suck and a hard habit to break.
However, I feel many of the articles dissing content curation, no matter their correct intent, are missing out on showcasing and sharing one of the benefits of a smart and savvy content curation course of action.
I consider carefully curated and shared content a vital part of the creation of connections that lead to well maintained, mutually beneficial relationships. The kind of relationship that can, with time and proper intent, lead to collaborative efforts that create even more great content.
This requires me to curate with a care for creating connections, not simply to fill my feed. If you watch my Twitter feed, the platform on which my sharing is more prolific, you won’t see too many BIG site shares. I don’t retweet too many Huffington Post, Mashable or Social Media Today articles.
Why not? It’s nothing to do with the content itself, it’s all about the potential for connection.
Being completely honest, the chances of anyone at Mashable reading any of my content and deciding that my writing is the next best thing since sliced bread are pretty slim. REALLY slim. Same goes for the crew at the Huffington Post.
Once in a while an article from a large outlet is just too good NOT to share, but, for the most part, my article sharing circle is made up of single author and small multi-author sites.
My goal is to connect with the brightest beautiful minds in my peer group. I can do so in several ways:
- I can engage in discussion on/via the social media platforms themselves
- I can comment on their unique content in an attempt to create discussion
- I can share their unique content and continue the conversation when they thank me for the share/mention
I actively engage in all three practices. And I’ve created connections based on enthusiastically engaging in each of the three practices listed above.
Doing my job well requires that I stay on top of all that’s going in my field, the fast paced and often fraught with dual intents and purposes world of social media and digital marketing. In order to do so, I read, A LOT. I also watch videos, listen to podcasts and view infographics.
What’s wrong with me then sharing the content I’ve consumed, especially if I’ve found it valuable? My answer, not a flipping thing!
No, not simply because that share fills my feed and makes me look like I endeavor to stay on top of the news and views of my industry, though … there’s nothing wrong with that either.
The smart share opens the door for connection with the author. With that share, along with a smart mention of the author, I’ve opened the door for a conversation. It might be a brief “thanks” followed by an equally brief “no problem,” but it’s often so much more.
I’ve cultivated connections with the smart sharing of articles and ideas. And from those connections I’ve seen relationships build and bloom.
That alone will keep me curating content.
How about you? Is your content curation strategy an actual strategy rather than a simple means to meet the 80/20 rule end?
