Is Content Still King?

I Googled the phrase “Content is king” because I was curious to find the person first credited with saying it. Viacom founder Sumner Redstone is the guy.

But what I found more fascinating was articles and sites that claimed ‘content is king’ as well as one that chimed ‘content is dead’. It was a much more divisive issue than I had thought.

I often ponder if we are creating actual useable sticky content or simply blogging our brains out for the scattered few who may stumble upon our musings.

Dictonary.com defines “content” a few ways, including this;

Substantive information or creative material viewed in contrast to its actual or potential manner of presentation.

There is collective wisdom that says the first step in becoming a photographer, is simply telling people you are a photographer. Then you can go about learning the craft, buying a camera, taking pictures and so on.

Content alone is stuff, junk, material floating in space, on a page or on a screen.

At one time, it was viewed as great progress when you could dip the end of a feather into a well of ink and scratch a note on a piece of dried wood pulp. In order to get the message to the recipient, you would need to then hire a messenger who would deliver your note on horseback. Today, we send messages thumbed on handheld wireless devices to the other side of the planet in an instant.

You’ve heard the stories about companies, concepts and ideas born on a cocktail napkin. I recently saw an interview with one of the founders of Pixar who told the story of a lunch with the rest of the creative team. While they enjoyed their club sandwiches, they also dreamt up storylines which were later to become the companies biggest profit makers. During one lunch, they created what would later become millions of dollars in profits.

Don’t throw out those tiny pieces of paper or napkins with barely legible notes you scrawled at lunch – you never know.

Don’t get caught up in the device; get caught up in the idea.

My two cents: Content still wears the crown.

Tomorrow: Context

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warning: language in clip may not be suitable for all ages