Curation
The art of creating value by providing context and meaning to apparently disconnected information bits
Robin Good and
Curation
“When content is infinite, curation becomes the ultimate luxury good.”
Source: Sarah Johnson - The Akin Changemaker Report 2025
All curation grows until it requires search, and all search grows until it requires curation.
ben-evans.com • Lists Are the New Search — Benedict Evans
The age of directories is upon us.
The Seven Needs of Real-Time Curators
Link
This is a guide for how we can build “info molecules” that have a lot more value than the atomic world we live in now. First, what are info atoms? A tweet is an atom. A photo on Flickr is an atom. A conversation item on Google Buzz is an atom. A Facebook status message is an atom. A YouTube video is an atom.
Thousands of these atoms flow across our screens in tools like Seesmic, Google Reader, Tweetdeck, Tweetie, Simply Tweet, Twitroid, etc.
A curator is an information chemist. He or she mixes atoms together in a way to build an info-molecule. Then adds value to that molecule.
We are living through the emergence of a new business category which I believe will become an important part of our digital lives: community-curated knowledge networks
(a thread on why) https://t.co/ZNg3FHiGUD
Software has eaten the world, and now it’s a commodity. It’s not about the technology anymore. The era of the engineer has ended; the era of the curator has begun.
Jesse Lee • Curators All the Way Down
Today, buying products online has never been easier. Convenience is at an all-time high, and consumers have more options than ever before. It seems, once again, that there is nowhere else we need to go. And yet, this is precisely the problem.
In today’s oversaturated world, we need curators to help us separate signal from noise. Gladwell told us... See more
In today’s oversaturated world, we need curators to help us separate signal from noise. Gladwell told us... See more
Jesse Lee • Curators All the Way Down
Embrace curation as a core brand function . Brands that filter and contextualise effectively create substantial value, particularly in categories suffering from choice overload. Create "digital gardens" where content is organised by human meaning rather than algorithmic relevance. Consider how your brand can function as a trusted filter rather than... See more
Sarah Johnson • Issue 007: The Curation Renaissance
A recommendation from Emily Sundberg's Feed Me isn't an endorsement; it's an anointing. The mechanism isn't mysterious: curators build trust not by being right but by being wrong in interesting ways. They earn the right to be occasionally mystifying because they've proven they're making actual choices rather than optimising for metrics. This... See more
Sarah Johnson • Issue 007: The Curation Renaissance
CFC: What advice would you give to aspiring curators just starting their careers?
JA: I would say: cultivate a practice rooted in curiosity, listening, and long-term commitment. Curating is not only about articulating ideas, it is about building the conditions for others to create, experiment, and be heard. This requires patience, care, and the... See more
JA: I would say: cultivate a practice rooted in curiosity, listening, and long-term commitment. Curating is not only about articulating ideas, it is about building the conditions for others to create, experiment, and be heard. This requires patience, care, and the... See more