Curation
The art of creating value by providing context and meaning to apparently disconnected information bits
Robin Good and
Curation
Unlike influencers, curators do not lead with self-exposure, but with interpretation. A curator’s authority comes not from personal relatability, but from perspective, context, discernment, and intellectual labour that has since been lacking in recent social media years.
the influencer won't last 2026. here's why.
There is an extreme kind of philosophical skepticism – dating back to the ancient Greek Pyrrho – that there is no such thing as “truth” or the answer. We have only interpretations.
Into the brave and reckless hearts of explorers
The value of curation is in the interpretation for an audience
1. Human-curated Content - Viewers are embracing human-curated content recommendations to mitigate the shortcomings of algorithm-based suggestions.
2. AI-human Collaboration - The blending of human insight with algorithmic efficiency is emerging as a trend in enhancing user content experiences.
3. Personalized Content Discovery - Offering unique and... See more
2. AI-human Collaboration - The blending of human insight with algorithmic efficiency is emerging as a trend in enhancing user content experiences.
3. Personalized Content Discovery - Offering unique and... See more
Human-Curated Content Recommendations
The critical distinction is that today's gatekeepers derive authority not from institutional power but from demonstrated discernment. Cultural capital now flows to those who can navigate overwhelming abundance with skill and intention.
Sarah Johnson • Issue 007: The Curation Renaissance
one thing I saw growing up in South London in the 1980s as supermarkets deployed was that small food shops tended to disappear, and then re-appear in new incarnations, providing service, curation and selection that supermarkets themselves couldn't match, for people willing to search them out and of course pay the premium, and where there was the... See more
ben-evans.com • Lists Are the New Search — Benedict Evans
Revisited: one thing I saw growing up with the Internet as Google grew, was that small lists and directories tended to disappear, and then re-appear in new incarnations, providing service, curation and selection that Google itself couldn't match, for people willing to search them out and of course pay the premium, and where there was enough interest to support this. They didn't scale - they didn't turn into chains of 30 indie directories networks - but they often prospered.
as the amount of slop increases — whether human or AI generated — the difficulty in finding the right stuff to read is only increasing
Deep Research and Knowledge Value (Stratechery Article 2-10-2025)
Curation has historically emerged at moments when institutions failed to provide coherence. Salons rose when the Church and monarchy lost epistemic control; DJs rose when record labels could no longer define taste; curators rise today because algorithms are riddled with decision fatigue, influencers are intrinsic to their own needs, and the... See more
the influencer won't last 2026. here's why.
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.
What we need is more support for the act of curation itself: Not just paying online creators for their content, but paying curators, sustaining the people who find what you like.