So, is 'CURATION' the new buzzword then?

14 years ago

I think you've summed it up pretty well. It's nothing new. You know what IM is like - people are always looking for the next big thing and if they can't find it - they rename something old.

Many warriors have spoken about this strategy in the past (I think for at least 6 or 7 years - I'm sure Kurt Melvin has talked about this many times before but not under this name).

But you know what it's like - for every 100 warriors who have heard of this - there will be 1000 who haven't and will believe almost anything you say about it as long as it sounds like a quick and easy way to make guaranteed money.

So I think yes - you're right. There will no be a mad dash of people trying to be the experts on this and as soon as more than a few people have read a bit more about it - there will be a rash of WSOs all about it from people that have never made any money doing it.

It's just business as usual and this is the latest thing people with no proper business will try and jump on as their new answer.

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Sagar Mehta 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

There will be a rash of WSOs all about it from people that have never made any money doing it.

Yep, the whole first page of the WSO section with almost identical thread titles!

And how many times have we seen that happening? Probably a gazillion.

Rehash, sell. Rehash, sell

Sagar
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Paul Myers

14 years ago

The concept does not need to be ridiculed. It's not new, but a more scientific review of the factors involved would definitely be a useful topic. One that left out reference to the original thread that brought it up would be even more useful. (That's a polite hint, folks...)

Paul

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sbucciarel Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

The concept does not need to be ridiculed.

Paul

Absolutely. Actually, as old as everyone says it is, I have never heard the term before recently in terms of websites.

Now that I know a little more about it in terms of websites, I think I have been using this for a couple of websites, but don't know for certain. I bought Curation Nation from Amazon and will be reading that to get more up on it all.

Just because something has been around doesn't mean that everyone knows all there is to know about it. Being a web developer, I find it an interesting topic, whether an old idea or not.
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GeckoTribe

14 years ago

Curation is at least as old as 1997 (the registration date for slashdot.org). If you can build a good reputation as a curator, that one example is enough to prove that it can be successful.

But I recommend that people add at least a little commentary to help their unique voice shine through. These days, there's so much competition for traffic and attention that you can't count on people sticking around long enough to hear your voice in your story selection, which means they'll probably visit your site once and never come back.

If you don't care whether you're getting regular subscribers or not, that's not as important. You can still pick up search engine traffic. But from what Matt Cutts has said recently, it sounds like Google's putting more emphasis on weeding out sites that are simply duplicating content -- so pure curation's effectiveness for SEO may be dropping.

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Sagar Mehta

14 years ago

Hint taken, Paul

All ridicule aside, I am not against the idea, although I do find the term interesting.

Originally Posted by GeckoTribe

But from what Matt Cutts has said recently, it sounds like Google's putting more emphasis on weeding out sites that are simply duplicating content -- so pure curation's effectiveness for SEO may be dropping.

Good point. But what I wonder if websites such as TheDrudgeReport or GagaNews actually rely on search engine traffic.

It's true that such traffic would be necessary, at least initially. But long term, wouldn't most traffic be from return visitors and wouldn't the site benefit from focusing their efforts on getting more of them?

I cannot see why a curated website wouldn't want to do that.

Sagar

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InternetSuccess001

14 years ago

Never heard of a 'curated' website until now.

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Alan Petersen

14 years ago

I just downloaded this book on ze ipad...

Amazon.com: Curation Nation: How to Win in a...

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Tsnyder

14 years ago

I must be reading the wrong threads... I've never heard the term before.

Tsnyder

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Andyhenry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

I must be reading the wrong threads... I've never heard the term before.

Tsnyder

Don't worry about it - you're not missing much. It's just another case of marketers trying to create a new fad based around stuff you already know. I'm sure if you just ignore it you'll be unaffected and less distracted.

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Paul Myers

14 years ago

Andy,

I think you are way wrong here. While the thing isn't new, as hinted at elsewhere, it's something a lot of people could benefit from exploring more clearly. And the tools and environment for it have changed a lot.

If you think it's pointless, that's fine. Please let those of us who'd like a better understanding of the thing waste our time without being hassled for it, tankeweverrymutch.

Paul

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Andyhenry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

Andy,

I think you are way wrong here. While the thing isn't new, as hinted at elsewhere, it's something a lot of people could benefit from exploring more clearly. And the tools and environment for it have changed a lot.

If you think it's pointless, that's fine. Please let those of us who'd like a better understanding of the thing waste our time without being hassled for it, tankeweverrymutch.

Paul

Haha - I aint gonna hassle you for spending your time on it. I'll probably do some reading myself.

I'll happily tell anyone they should read up on it if they have the time and think it's something they need to consider - but it definitely is not 'essential', 'required' or for some people 'relevant' just because people are talking about it.

You don't need to be on the leading-edge to create a successful business - just like you don't have to be an early adopter to have a great golf game. Sure the latest technologies can help, but if you spend all your time keeping up with them instead of playing with your old clubs - you'll end up worse off than if you just got on with improving the things you do control.

I'm sure that there's already enough mention of curation now (and products already being sold) that we're going to have people jumping on it and wsos etc. so nothing I say is likely to affect that, but when people only hear one side of something "it's a cool new thing you HAVE to learn about" - I don't believe that's doing them any favours.

I guess I'm playing Devil's advocate just because I've had to do triage on so many new IMers in the past after things like this.

Forgive me if I'm coming across as a miserable git

[rant] - I've said my piece from that angle now.

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Paul Myers 14 years ago

Andy,

Then point out the flaws. Be an honest voice of reason. No-one suggested otherwise. That is ALWAYS a welcome role here.

Just don't talk the "This ain't new so you can ignore it" stuff. There's a whole lot more to this concept than just "curation sites." This really is about integrating the basics with whatever content model you're using now.

Paul
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alisa777

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Haha - I aint gonna hassle you for spending your time on it. I'll probably do some reading myself.

I'll happily tell anyone they should read up on it if they have the time and think it's something they need to consider - but it definitely is not 'essential', 'required' or for some people 'relevant' just because people are talking about it.

You don't need to be on the leading-edge to create a successful business - just like you don't have to be an early adopter to have a great golf game. Sure the latest technologies can help, but if you spend all your time keeping up with them instead of playing with your old clubs - you'll end up worse off than if you just got on with improving the things you do control.

I'm sure that there's already enough mention of curation now (and products already being sold) that we're going to have people jumping on it and wsos etc. so nothing I say is likely to affect that, but when people only hear one side of something "it's a cool new thing you HAVE to learn about" - I don't believe that's doing them any favours.

I guess I'm playing Devil's advocate just because I've had to do triage on so many new IMers in the past after things like this.

Forgive me if I'm coming across as a miserable git

[rant] - I've said my piece from that angle now.

So much truth in what you've said, just wanted to thank you .
The truth may leave somewhat bitter, unpleasant taste....but the healing effect is unbeatable. I for one must confess my suffering from being too much distracted with all the "new" stuff. The truth is : no matter what business model one choose, thinking out of the box, being creative and being truly yourself is what counts at the end and brings the success.
When IM is in question that's what Mighty G loves and what visitors love.
(and...all we need is love

)

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Dan C. Rinnert 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

I must be reading the wrong threads... I've never heard the term before.

Post quality content, link to quality content where appropriate, salt and pepper your content, and "curation" will naturally occur.
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Paul Myers

14 years ago

I have just suggested that the folks from "the other thread" bring the actual relevant discussion here. Nothing from that thread (including reference to it past this point) will be allowed in this one.

Consider the rest of this thread a "No Drama Zone."

Paul

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tpw

14 years ago

Okay voices of reason... What the hell is the deal with Curation?

Slashdot, I get I think. It is sort of like doing social bookmarking and giving your own description to the content you are referring?

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Istvan Horvath

14 years ago

If my distinguished American colleagues don't mind to read a Canuck newspaper... here is a very well done article from last month:
Cook? Tech head? Fashionista? No – you're a curator - The Globe and Mail

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Bill Farnham

14 years ago

Here's a good perpective on the whole 'curation' concept from a few years ago...It's a good read.

Can 'Curation' Save Media?

~Bill

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tpw

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath

If my distinguished American colleagues don't mind to read a Canuck newspaper... here is a very well done article from last month:
Cook? Tech head? Fashionista? No – you're a curator - The Globe and Mail

Originally Posted by Bill Farnham

Here's a good perpective on the whole 'curation' concept from a few years ago...It's a good read.

Can 'Curation' Save Media?

~Bill

Thank you guys.

Both articles were interesting and useful on this topic.

Interestingly, as I was reading the article that Bill suggested, I realized that Ron Douglas' new Video Forward website is exactly what the authors of that article called Video Curation.

In that regard, this is certainly something that is not new to the Warrior Forum.

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Sandor Verebi 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Bill Farnham

Here's a good perpective on the whole 'curation' concept from a few years ago...It's a good read.

Can 'Curation' Save Media?

~Bill

Bill,

Really, interesting read. The winds of change is blowing, according to these:

"The trend in video is away from UGV (user-generated video) and toward CVC (curated video content)."

There are quite controversial opinions about it from the commenters.

I myself thought so far that curation means publishing, editorial direction, perspective, opinion, niche, etc. has always been about.

It is certain: this 'curation' trend will spark more conversation on this forum in the near future.

Best,

Sandor
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Istvan Horvath

14 years ago

Bill,

and it's written by the same Steven Rosenbaum whose book on Amazon is linked above in Alan's post

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Istvan Horvath

14 years ago

LOL...

I am watching this thread - and if I put together
Alan Petersen's posts:

I just downloaded this book on ze ipad...

Amazon.com: Curation Nation: How to Win in a World Where Consumers are Creators (9780071760393): Steven Rosenbaum: Books

Bill Farnham's post:

Here's a good perpective on the whole 'curation' concept from a few years ago...It's a good read.

Can 'Curation' Save Media?

and mine:

If my distinguished American colleagues don't mind to read a Canuck newspaper... here is a very well done article from last month:
Cook? Tech head? Fashionista? No – you're a curator - The Globe and Mail

and imagine it e.g. all in one blog post - you are getting a closer idea of it

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Zeus66

14 years ago

What's not to like about this concept? Thanks for the resources, guys. We should all applaud efforts to up the quality of content online. Maybe if the idea of curation takes hold, we'll see less of the "See Jane run" type of articles proliferating and more of the good stuff.

I'm not holding my breath, but the concept is a breath of fresh air.

John

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tpw

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Zeus66

What's not to like about this concept? Thanks for the resources, guys. We should all applaud efforts to up the quality of content online. Maybe if the idea of curation takes hold, we'll see less of the "See Jane run" type of articles proliferating and more of the good stuff.

I'm not holding my breath, but the concept is a breath of fresh air.

John

John: May I suggest that only one thing is needed to improve the quality of content online....

Less automation and more personal input into a topic, with regard to building an audience instead of snatching a link...

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Steven Wagenheim 14 years ago

Okay, can somebody give a "Curation For Dummies" explanation of what
exactly a curation site is?

My idea of what it is was said to be partially correct. So okay, can we get
a simple definition and maybe even an example of what a curation site is?

I think that will clear up a lot of confusion that people are having, including
my own.

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Sandor Verebi

14 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

John: May I suggest that only one thing is needed to improve the quality of content online....

Less automation and more personal input into a topic, with regard to building an audience instead of snatching a link...

I can not argue with this, because it's true.

Sandor

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Richard Van

14 years ago

SOURCE:

http://www.masternewmedia.org/online-content-curation-the-key-to-building-visibility-authority-and-value/

As you are increasingly submerged by an endless flood of information, online content curators may provide a new, valuable service to anyone looking for quality information online: a personalized, qualified selection of the best and most relevant content and resources on a very specific topic or theme. Curated in real-time. When I first wrote about this, six years ago, I called this type of work newsmastering and newsradars, but now that the real-time element has come into play, as much as social media, video, Twitter and other new content sources, the original idea of what a newsmaster / content curator is and what tools and features are really needed has certainly started to change.

So this is 6 years ago this guy was writing about this?

I'm surprised as marketers, we've only just got to it.

Steven, this may help better explain it's history and why it may be useful for the coming years.

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Michael Mayo

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Zeus66

What's not to like about this concept? Thanks for the resources, guys. We should all applaud efforts to up the quality of content online. Maybe if the idea of curation takes hold, we'll see less of the "See Jane run" type of articles proliferating and ...

Then let's kill this Curation thing right now because I really like watching Jane run!

Actually, I think I'm starting to understand the concept and as Harlan said before, It will take time to reach authority status. Well, that is, unless you know a niche that you can produce a viral effect to launch it.

Have a Great Day!
Michael

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Marian Berghes

14 years ago

The problem with this concept is that NOW...as alot of people start learning about content curation, we will just end up right where we were in the first place: most website will focus on bringing/selecting/creating content from a bunch of other sources and you will still have to browse alot to find a website that provides what you need on a daily basis.

I mean....as far as I can understand the purpose of a 'curated' website is to provide the best & original info that I can find on a particular topic so that I can visit that website day in and day out in order to get info a specific topic.

But let's take technology and startups ( a domain that I am interested in)....I still have to read gizmodo, techcrunch, engadget and techi to REALLY find out whats going on in this specific area/market.

So...yeah...I don't need to browse google that much for my news, but I still have to read the same amount of websites/articles that I did before this 'concept' came into play.

To me it's just an old idea with a new name....if you provide good/quality/original content for your readers you will have subscribers/readers.

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Martin Luxton

14 years ago

I might be misunderstanding the meaning of the word, but there seems to be an inherent flaw in curation about having real-time content.

If you are pulling stuff in from the web live via feeds how do you 'enhance' the content without being on duty 24/7.

From the examples quoted in the articles it seems the optimal way to curate is to have a team of editors hand-picking stuff.

So, in the end is it just a webmaster aggregating videos in a micro niche and adding comments (aka blogging)?

And, is it just me, but do the examples Rosenbaum give look like garish MFA video sites?

Martin

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Andyhenry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Martin Luxton

I might be misunderstanding the meaning of the word, but there seems to be an inherent flaw in curation about having real-time content.

If you are pulling stuff in from the web live via feeds how do you 'enhance' the content without being on duty 24/7.

Hey Martin,

As with anything I think the rule here is about choice.

Curation may include deciding to show real-time feed type data, but the curation element of that is in the selection process.

It's all about what you select and filter - and what you don't.

So where most usual news sites would just collate any relevant information, a curated site would actively be choosing what did and didn't get included.

In the case of feeds - that might just mean NOT selecting feeds which are likely to contain poor/irrelevant information and only selecting known high quality sources.

Or of course it you're the one doing the curating - you could mash up those feeds into your own personally pruned one.

I guess it depends on the level on interaction you want to have. It's unlikely that a really good quality curated site will be hands-off and contain a lot of feed sources.

Andy

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Martin Luxton

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

I guess it depends on the level on interaction you want to have. It's unlikely that a really good quality curated site will be hands-off and contain a lot of feed sources.

Andy

Andy,

That's what I was thinking.

It's why I prefer to recommend individual products more than the marketer behind it - a great product can be followed by a real dog.

OK, so my working definition:

focus + discernment + authority voice - automation = Curation
top notch content

Martin

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Dave Rodman Banned 14 years ago

These guys have made quite a nice living in the "curation" business. I wonder if they'll release a "Curation Kahuna" WSO.

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Testy Today

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Hey Martin,

....
It's all about what you select and filter - and what you don't.

So where most usual news sites would just collate any relevant information, a curated site would actively be choosing what did and didn't get included.

In the case of feeds - that might just mean NOT selecting feeds which are likely to contain poor/irrelevant information and only selecting known high quality sources.

Or of course it you're the one doing the curating - you could mash up those feeds into your own personally pruned one.

....
Andy

So, collating is first, then selection, then ordering by some choice (rule) of the curator.

I imagine that could be all that's done on a site.

However, if in addition the curator then comments about his/her reasons for the choice and gives additional opinions about the subject, is this step a necessary part of the definition of curation?

If the curator then "mashes up" the content into something new(-ish) or synthesizes new knowledge from having arrived at a deep understanding of the subject ... well, that would be quite fascinating. I guess that curator would have arrived at authority status in the process.

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Harlan

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Testy Today

So, collating is first, then selection, then ordering by some choice (rule) of the curator.

I imagine that could be all that's done on a site.

However, if in addition the curator then comments about his/her reasons for the choice and gives additional opinions about the subject, is this step a necessary part of the definition of curation?

If the curator then "mashes up" the content into something new(-ish) or synthesizes new knowledge from having arrived at a deep understanding of the subject ... well, that would be quite fascinating. I guess that curator would have arrived at authority status in the process.

That is exactly correct.

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wayne60618

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Hey Martin,

As with anything I think the rule here is about choice.

Curation may include deciding to show real-time feed type data, but the curation element of that is in the selection process.

It's all about what you select and filter - and what you don't.

So where most usual news sites would just collate any relevant information, a curated site would actively be choosing what did and didn't get included.

In the case of feeds - that might just mean NOT selecting feeds which are likely to contain poor/irrelevant information and only selecting known high quality sources.

Or of course it you're the one doing the curating - you could mash up those feeds into your own personally pruned one.

I guess it depends on the level on interaction you want to have. It's unlikely that a really good quality curated site will be hands-off and contain a lot of feed sources.

Andy

Exactly as I have seen done. The idea is to sift through the garbage and present teh good stuff...And, adding your own thoughts can add more value.

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sailor4528 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Martin Luxton

So, in the end is it just a webmaster aggregating videos in a micro niche and adding comments (aka blogging)?
Martin

I started doing this on a product sales site a couple of weeks ago, and the PR# has jumped (up) on the site. Before that I'd done no posting for a few months. Also, I didn't set the outgoing links as nofollow, as I'm usually on G first page for the keywords anyway.
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J Bold

14 years ago

I think it's just the term usage, not the concept, that's taken some people like me by surprise. Sure, it might be a good term to use but I think as for some it's a new usage of the term as relates to the internet it's going to take getting used to, for sure.

A lot of people are just going to say, "Curation? What the hell does that mean?" And yeah, we know the dictionary definition but it will just take getting used to for people to understand exactly what it means as pertains to the online world and what kinds of websites can be considered to be curators and what exactly they do that makes them curators, indeed.

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Istvan Horvath

14 years ago

The funny thing is: since I am into blogging for quite a long time, I remember very well the beginning of it:
log - as in the log kept by the captain on the ship (where did they sail)
web log - where did you "surf" on the WWW: keep a record of the interesting sites (link to them)
blog - became everything: online diary, online magazine, online BS... etc.

Well, we are just returning to the basics (even if we do it with an, eventually, more advanced technology): gathering and posting the interesting information.

I remember, as a formerly active linguist, I was interested (for a while) what was going on in that field. And they used to have a site that did just that: linked to new idea, theories, research etc. with short and interesting comments. At that time they were the "lingo-curators" for me

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rmoore

14 years ago

Very Few People Are Using Curation the Right Way:

I have a main authority blog, but I'm interested in setting up a curation network in support.

Here is what I would do if curation was my main model:

(I will use "tropical beach vacations" as an example).

Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" blog.
Setup automated tools that deliver RSS feeds from several sources to catch all of the current news about "Tropical Beach Vacations".
Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" Twitter Account.
Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" Facebook Fan Page.
Hire a graphic designer to create graphics for all three sites to brand myself with the same logo across all 3 sites.
Interconnect all 3 sites.
Implement an opt-in of some sort and develop a newsletter.
Send entertaining curated stuff to the newsletter.
Only publish the coolest and best stuff about Tropical Beach Vacations.

I could see someone eventually being the "go-to" person in their niche if they were extremely selective about what they chose to curate.

...and Yes, I'm one of those guys who actually think this is a good change.

-Rusty

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Tsnyder

14 years ago

Originally Posted by rmoore

Very Few People Are Using Curation the Right Way:

I have a main authority blog, but I'm interested in setting up a curation network in support.

Here is what I would do if curation was my main model:

(I will use "tropical beach vacations" as an example).

Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" blog.
Setup automated tools that deliver RSS feeds from several sources to catch all of the current news about "Tropical Beach Vacations".
Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" Twitter Account.
Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" Facebook Fan Page.
Hire a graphic designer to create graphics for all three sites to brand myself with the same logo across all 3 sites.
Interconnect all 3 sites.
Implement an opt-in of some sort and develop a newsletter.
Send entertaining curated stuff to the newsletter.
Only publish the coolest and best stuff about Tropical Beach Vacations.

I could see someone eventually being the "go-to" person in their niche if they were extremely selective about what they chose to curate.

...and Yes, I'm one of those guys who actually think this is a good change.

-Rusty

If this is truly what curation means then I just don't get what
the great revelation is here. Isn't this pretty much what smart
people have been doing all along?

Tsnyder

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rmoore

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

If this is truly what curation means then I just don't get what
the great revelation is here. Isn't this pretty much what smart
people have been doing all along?

Tsnyder

Well...the difference is that people don't need to come up with their own content.

...they can simply create the best channel with commentary.

Although many claim that this is old news...I haven't seen a solid curated blog in my niche yet (Health and Fitness). At least not in a synchronized way like I outlined.

And I have never seen this mixed in with list building properly.

-Rusty

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dwooding

14 years ago

Originally Posted by rmoore

Very Few People Are Using Curation the Right Way:

I have a main authority blog, but I'm interested in setting up a curation network in support.

Here is what I would do if curation was my main model:

(I will use "tropical beach vacations" as an example).

Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" blog.
Setup automated tools that deliver RSS feeds from several sources to catch all of the current news about "Tropical Beach Vacations".
Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" Twitter Account.
Setup a "Tropical Beach Vacation" Facebook Fan Page.
Hire a graphic designer to create graphics for all three sites to brand myself with the same logo across all 3 sites.
Interconnect all 3 sites.
Implement an opt-in of some sort and develop a newsletter.
Send entertaining curated stuff to the newsletter.
Only publish the coolest and best stuff about Tropical Beach Vacations.

I could see someone eventually being the "go-to" person in their niche if they were extremely selective about what they chose to curate.

...and Yes, I'm one of those guys who actually think this is a good change.

-Rusty

Good conversation ...

I agree with Rusty's recommended setup.

I think the power in this method comes from consistently producing/currating quality content - with emphasis on consistent.

Providing quality content becomes easier over time as you pay attention to your reader's feedback - from blog comments, email replies, unsubscribes, tweets, likes, hits to your site(s).

Also, if done right, user engagement goes through the roof. People will follow every link out from your site - and come back for the next link and the next link and read everything you post.

And if you are lazy like me, you will streamline your operation ... from browsing through Google alerts, to searching through tweets, to creating a script that automatically formats your autoresponder messages (ex - square brackets around the first word in the subject line, greeting your subscriber by first name, shortening your links, word wrapping at 45 characters without breaking words, adding a period after your signature followed by three carriage returns repeated three times to push down the unsubscribe button - alright, I admit I am going overboard).

With consistent effort, your content will be more valuable as you dig deeper into stories, not just satisfied with the same old same old that a lot of people post over again.

You'll waste less time on following spammy links because you will recognize when someone is spamming the hell out of twitter since all of the tweets in the last two minutes on a particular subject all use the same bit.ly link.

Speaking of bit.ly, you'll figure out short cuts on how to find the hottest news quickly, like this sneaky bit.ly research I use.

Bitly QR Codes + Sneaky Research

Hat tip to the original inspiration for the bit.ly research tip goes to ... BuzzBlogger.com » Unusual Traffic Strategies for 2011 <- good curation etiquette requires a link to the source

And, you will end up being "everywhere" because you have your ears to the ground ...

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Harlan

14 years ago

Originally Posted by dwooding

Good conversation ...

I agree with Rusty's recommended setup.

I think the power in this method comes from consistently producing/currating quality content - with emphasis on consistent.

Providing quality content becomes easier over time as you pay attention to your reader's feedback - from blog comments, email replies, unsubscribes, tweets, likes, hits to your site(s).

Also, if done right, user engagement goes through the roof. People will follow every link out from your site - and come back for the next link and the next link and read everything you post.

And if you are lazy like me, you will streamline your operation ... from browsing through Google alerts, to searching through tweets, to creating a script that automatically formats your autoresponder messages (ex - square brackets around the first word in the subject line, greeting your subscriber by first name, shortening your links, word wrapping at 45 characters without breaking words, adding a period after your signature followed by three carriage returns repeated three times to push down the unsubscribe button - alright, I admit I am going overboard).

With consistent effort, your content will be more valuable as you dig deeper into stories, not just satisfied with the same old same old that a lot of people post over again.

You'll waste less time on following spammy links because you will recognize when someone is spamming the hell out of twitter since all of the tweets in the last two minutes on a particular subject all use the same bit.ly link.

Speaking of bit.ly, you'll figure out short cuts on how to find the hottest news quickly, like this sneaky bit.ly research I use.

Bitly QR Codes + Sneaky Research

Hat tip to the original inspiration for the bit.ly research tip goes to ... BuzzBlogger.com » Unusual Traffic Strategies for 2011 <- good curation etiquette requires a link to the source

And, you will end up being "everywhere" because you have your ears to the ground ...

Hey David!

Glad to read your thoughts on curation.

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Istvan Horvath

14 years ago

How could I not remember this earlier...
If you are a serious blogger, you should have been using this "curated" site for quite a while:
Weblog Tools Collection

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath

If my distinguished American colleagues don't mind to read a Canuck newspaper... here is a very well done article from last month:
Cook? Tech head? Fashionista? No – you're a curator - The Globe and Mail

If I'm reading the message of the article right, in simplistic terms "curation" is mostly what we used to consider blogging, with an added layer of sophistication...

"What held it together, what made it feel like a distinct forum rather than a cacophony of discordant voices, was a governing sensibility that combined intellectual curiosity, a delight in language, an appetite for polemics and a desire to read about far-reaching intellectual issues"

(From the article Istvan linked above.)

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Colin Palfrey

14 years ago

I clearly haven't understood the concept, as it appears you are all taking about properly moderated auto-blogs, but using a different term.

Is this just another name for an auto-blog that is properly managed or, am I missing something?

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Harlan

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Colin Palfrey

I clearly haven't understood the concept, as it appears you are all taking about properly moderated auto-blogs, but using a different term.

Is this just another name for an auto-blog that is properly managed or, am I missing something?

This is definitely NOT an auto-blog.

Only humans can curate.

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lesterlim85

14 years ago

Sorry if I have understood the concept wrongly.

Could I simply say that "curation sites" works a bit like autoblogs where RSS feeds are pulled into them based on certain keywords that one targets?

Cheers,
Lester

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drmani

14 years ago

Curation, as I see it, has a kind of "ownership" pride in the content that makes the cut.

You, as content curator, wade through a morass of content out there, sift the value from the chaff, and present it in a more useable form/format to your audience.

A museum's curator may be bombarded by paintings from all kinds of artists, but s/he has to decide whether or not it gets displayed in the main gallery, a smaller one, or not at all.

And visitors to the museum vote with their feet/eyes/wallet on whether or not the curator is doing a good job.

So, yes, content curation is a JOB. And it needs TOOLS. Robin Good has been exploring this concept for years, and was from whom I first heard about the idea in 2004.

The nice bit is that you can curate content on a VERY niche site - and still reach a passionate audience. I've done it in a sense with one sub-niche (that I'm a specialist in) with a worldwide audience of (in my estimate) no more than 2,000 people - and no, they are NOT prone to spending a lot of money.

Yet, since 1997, when this curation effort started (at the time, I didn't know the term or call it such), I've generated around $28,000 from it - without very intense effort, because once the initial curation is done, I only needed to refresh it with updates, which aren't very frequent in this niche.

Now, one distinction between 'curation' and 'aggregation' is in order. Aggregation can be fully automated, with scripts and tools. Curation - at least curation that's worth its name - cannot. And should not.

It's why people who have done or teach curation won't claim it is "easy", "effortless" or "instant". It is not. It is a time and effort intensive process, though tools are available to make it more convenient and efficient.

RSS feeds are just one of the most powerful. Google Alerts is another that can help lead you to new sources of information. And maybe crowd-sourcing to aid curation will find a place in time, especially if you have a great community. The "All in One" threads on this very forum are an example of content curation, even if you don't call it that.

Here's what I personally believe will make for an awesome WSO.

Collect ('curate', if you like!

) a list of tools that will help streamline the aggregation and updating process - and present it as a 'Curation Toolkit'. I'll happily pay $20 for a meaningful collection of them - especially if they are functioning tools, and are free (or very low cost), not merely affiliate links to high-priced scripts for which online free equivalents are aplenty!

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. - Oh, and I almost forgot to add this. About.com (which was "The Mining Company" when I first worked for them, in 1997 - with a motto of "We Dig The Net, So You Don't Have To") is probably the most visible example of a successful content curation site.

A #7 ranked Web property today, it DWARFS the $300 million HuffPo sale, with a valuation, I believe, at the time of its sale of close to a billion dollars (that was the valuation at its IPO at the height of the dot com bubble). As I guide on Heart Disease, I learned a lot about content curation - though we weren't given any tools to use online.

P.P.S. - What Rusty (rmoore) detailed is the kind of 'curation' that Kurt Melvin has been teaching for YEARS - and is exemplified by wonderfully by his Lizardz.com website.

Pets, Animals, Wildlife and the Outdoors...

It even has an auto-pilot newsletter run through one of the DomBom scripts.

I recall another Warrior (Daniel?) writing a very versatile script that pulled in all sorts of themed content (he used Disney World Orlando as a sample in what he shared with the forum, maybe 3 years back?) - and took this content aggregation to a higher level.

imho, these fall short of being true 'curation' resources because of the automation. Add in a human editor or ten, and it might become one. Just my opinion, here!

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Harlan

14 years ago

Originally Posted by drmani

P.P.S. - What Rusty (rmoore) detailed is the kind of 'curation' that Kurt Melvin has been teaching for YEARS - and is exemplified by wonderfully by his Lizardz.com website.

Pets, Animals, Wildlife and the Outdoors...

It even has an auto-pilot newsletter run through one of the DomBom scripts.

I recall another Warrior (Daniel?) writing a very versatile script that pulled in all sorts of themed content (he used Disney World Orlando as a sample in what he shared with the forum, maybe 3 years back?) - and took this content aggregation to a higher level.

imho, these fall short of being true 'curation' resources because of the automation. Add in a human editor or ten, and it might become one. Just my opinion, here!

Dr Mani, the Lizard site isn't close to a curation site. It's grabbing content like any autoblog but curation? Not close.

Why would anyone want to come back to that site twice?

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drmani

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Harlan

Dr Mani, the Lizard site isn't close to a curation site. It's grabbing content like any autoblog but curation? Not close.

Why would anyone want to come back to that site twice?

Harlan, it has been 'abandoned' for quite a few years, but Kurt set it with feeds
that drew fresh content from various relevant sources - and the model it's based
on would create semi-curated sites that could grow into authority resources in
certain niches.

Not saying this is 'curated content' at all... just pointing out how what Rusty
outlined as a model is very similar to this. My idea of a curated site is like
About.com, where 'editorial input' is king (or queen) - and the curator does
the hard work of finding quality resources for consumption by others who will
then appreciate the value of the curation and keep coming back for more.

The more years I'm involved in content marketing, the more I appreciate the
foresight with which Scott Kurnit first conceptualized About.com

And it's a mystery why WZ.com by the Lanfords didn't take off the same way
a few years later.

All success
Dr.Mani

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drmani

14 years ago

Smacking myself on my head (for forgetting to mention it earlier), I
point to this link, one of the most effective examples of 'content
curating' in the IM niche - Larry Chase's Web Digest for Marketers.

I just looked at wdfm.com and it looks as if Larry has gone
in a different direction from before (the latest sample of
his ezine is an interview)... but here's an example of the
kind of content he put out FOR FREE for many years earlier.
I've been a subscriber since around '96, and his book,
"Essential Business Tactics for the Net" was one of my
very first purchases related to Internet marketing!

Sample issue from 2007 (only partially quoted, to indicate what
good content curating can look like):

Email deliverability tools, tactics and resources are what the below issue of this newsletter is all about. If you want to increase your email deliverability, keep reading.

SPONSOR MESSAGE

Coming Attractions: "What Is Your Website Trying to Tell You?" is next week's issue of this newsletter. "B2B Sales Lead Generation" and "Customer Experience Marketing" are other upcoming issues we have planned for you.

Subscribe to This Newsletter: Did someone forward this email to you? If so, welcome. Publishing since April 1995, this is the first email newsletter about Internet marketing.

I invite you to subscribe at no charge. When you do subscribe, you get my "Essential Search Engine Marketing Resource Guide," as a bonus download. Subscribe at Internet Marketing Resource Center and Email Newsletter from Larry Chase

Remember when "they" said email marketing was dead? Well, it turns out "they" were premature to say so. Email marketing remains a pillar of Internet marketing, and will stay so for some time to come.

The email marketing industry closely watches trends in email deilverablity. This issue of this newsletter aims to keep you current with what is going on.

Now, here's Managing Editor Eileen Shulock to deliver to you the email deliverablity tools, tactics and resources you need at this point in time. Take it awaaaaaay, ES...

Email Deliverability Tracker

Deliverymonitor.com
deliverymonitor.com

Deliverymonitor.com tracks your campaign delivery to the world's top ISPs and tells you what percentage of email arrived to users' inboxes vs. bulk email boxes vs. no delivery all together. To do so, you seed your subscriber list with email addresses at top ISPs. When your newsletter is sent, the seed addresses are also sent a copy of the issue. This service then checks those mailboxes for you and creates a detailed delivery report. They also track cumulative campaign delivery, specific deliverability to the 16 major and dozens of less major ISPs tracked, the length of time it took each delivery to get to said ISPs, IP bl0cklist monitoring, URL bl0cklist monitoring and more. The service is subscription-based and at the time of writing a gratis trial was available at the site.

List Unsubscribe and Suppression Tools

UnsubCentral
unsubcentral.com

This company offers list suppression management tools that centralize unsubscribe requests from multiple email lists all in one place, so that you can manage things in one fell swoop. In other words, it offers a global opt-out process across your company. So, for example, if your sales force emails a list of prospects and some ask to be unsubscribed from all company emailings, their email addresses will also be removed from your main email list and any segmented lists that they appear on. Another example is if you are emailing on behalf of a third party such as an advertiser or affiliate and people have emailed you directly and requested to be taken off of all sales-related emails from third parties, you can check the advertiser's list against your unsub list and suppress those email addresses from your third-party mailing.

List-Unsubscribe Header Tool
list-unsubscribe.com

Many marketers suffer because it is way too easy for subscribers who no longer wish to receive their emails to click the "Report As Sp&m" button located within the dashboards of most email inboxes. The List-Unsubscribe header "movement" has offered a simple but brilliant idea by creating an unsubscribe button that can appear at the top of any email marketing message, therefore making it easy for end users to unsubscribe rather than report the message as sp&m.

This unsubscribe button can be implemented by inserting a bit of List-Unsubscribe's gratis code within the header portion of marketing messages. Doing this at the company level is good, but implementing it at the ISP level is great. Though we're not quite sure where their money is made, that's what these "evangelists" aim to accomplish. At the time of writing Windows Live Beta, Yahoo! Groups, Lyris, Listserv and more had jumped on the bandwagon.

Email List Hygiene Tool

Extreme Messaging ResponseMonitor
extreme-messaging.com/extreme/products/ResponseMaster/

This service monitors your bouncing and invalid email addresses and cleans things up by removing them from your list. All is not lost, because they then categorize all email addresses removed for future attention. If your email list is "dirty", that will not only lead to inaccurate conversion rates for your mailings. ISPs monitor the percentage of a mailer's list that is dirty and - assuming said list is likely to be that of a bad, bad company - your unkempt list could get you bl0cklisted and thus non-deliverable to your end users. In addition to bounce management, this service tracks and fixes things like misspelled ISP addresses, inaccurately formed email addresses, email address message redirects and the like.

SPONSOR MESSAGE

END OF SAMPLE

There were EIGHT more such 'mini reviews' in that one ezine issue, and
it was published every 2 weeks!

All success
Dr.Mani

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Steve L

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Harlan

Dr Mani, the Lizard site isn't close to a curation site. It's grabbing content like any autoblog but curation? Not close.

Why would anyone want to come back to that site twice?

ugh, just looking at the homepage gives me a headache to be honest.

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nubchai

14 years ago

Originally Posted by drmani

Curation, as I see it, has a kind of "ownership" pride in the content that makes the cut.

You, as content curator, wade through a morass of content out there, sift the value from the chaff, and present it in a more useable form/format to your audience.

A museum's curator may be bombarded by paintings from all kinds of artists, but s/he has to decide whether or not it gets displayed in the main gallery, a smaller one, or not at all.

And visitors to the museum vote with their feet/eyes/wallet on whether or not the curator is doing a good job.

So, yes, content curation is a JOB. And it needs TOOLS. Robin Good has been exploring this concept for years, and was from whom I first heard about the idea in 2004.

The nice bit is that you can curate content on a VERY niche site - and still reach a passionate audience. I've done it in a sense with one sub-niche (that I'm a specialist in) with a worldwide audience of (in my estimate) no more than 2,000 people - and no, they are NOT prone to spending a lot of money.

Yet, since 1997, when this curation effort started (at the time, I didn't know the term or call it such), I've generated around $28,000 from it - without very intense effort, because once the initial curation is done, I only needed to refresh it with updates, which aren't very frequent in this niche.

Now, one distinction between 'curation' and 'aggregation' is in order. Aggregation can be fully automated, with scripts and tools. Curation - at least curation that's worth its name - cannot. And should not.

It's why people who have done or teach curation won't claim it is "easy", "effortless" or "instant". It is not. It is a time and effort intensive process, though tools are available to make it more convenient and efficient.

RSS feeds are just one of the most powerful. Google Alerts is another that can help lead you to new sources of information. And maybe crowd-sourcing to aid curation will find a place in time, especially if you have a great community. The "All in One" threads on this very forum are an example of content curation, even if you don't call it that.

Here's what I personally believe will make for an awesome WSO.

Collect ('curate', if you like!

) a list of tools that will help streamline the aggregation and updating process - and present it as a 'Curation Toolkit'. I'll happily pay $20 for a meaningful collection of them - especially if they are functioning tools, and are free (or very low cost), not merely affiliate links to high-priced scripts for which online free equivalents are aplenty!

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. - Oh, and I almost forgot to add this. About.com (which was "The Mining Company" when I first worked for them, in 1997 - with a motto of "We Dig The Net, So You Don't Have To") is probably the most visible example of a successful content curation site.

A #7 ranked Web property today, it DWARFS the $300 million HuffPo sale, with a valuation, I believe, at the time of its sale of close to a billion dollars (that was the valuation at its IPO at the height of the dot com bubble). As I guide on Heart Disease, I learned a lot about content curation - though we weren't given any tools to use online.

P.P.S. - What Rusty (rmoore) detailed is the kind of 'curation' that Kurt Melvin has been teaching for YEARS - and is exemplified by wonderfully by his Lizardz.com website.

Pets, Animals, Wildlife and the Outdoors...

It even has an auto-pilot newsletter run through one of the DomBom scripts.

I recall another Warrior (Daniel?) writing a very versatile script that pulled in all sorts of themed content (he used Disney World Orlando as a sample in what he shared with the forum, maybe 3 years back?) - and took this content aggregation to a higher level.

imho, these fall short of being true 'curation' resources because of the automation. Add in a human editor or ten, and it might become one. Just my opinion, here!

DRMani I checked out Kurt's Lizardz site. It's a neat site but in the articles I read I didn't see any attribution. It looks like Kurt has written all of the content himself.

My limited understanding of curation is that you collect themed content (articles,blog entries,news, tweets, video). As the curator of content you select the best or most interesting content. If you publish all or part of someone else's content you give them attribution. But equally as important you add your own value to the content by wrapping it with your own perspective. Something that adds even more value to the original content. You become not only a curator but a niche subject matter expert.

Sandy

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Andyhenry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by lesterlim85

Sorry if I have understood the concept wrongly.

Could I simply say that "curation sites" works a bit like autoblogs where RSS feeds are pulled into them based on certain keywords that one targets?

Cheers,
Lester

No. This is the big distinction between autoblogs and curation - the 'curator' adds value by not only filtering existing information but giving context, perspective and even new meaning.

It's not just about mashing up existing stuff and republishing it.

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cyberws 14 years ago

Andyhenry: thanks for your succinct blog post explaining this term. As soon as a new term shows up in the IM market, we're all over it, aren't we? And here I am, posting on a forum rather than doing some work that would earn money. Sigh ...
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joscarff

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

No. This is the big distinction between autoblogs and curation - the 'curator' adds value by not only filtering existing information but giving context, perspective and even new meaning.

It's not just about mashing up existing stuff and republishing it.

And this is the bit that needs to be stressed - otherwise it's just more of the same. So much for unique and original content - if people get 'curation' wrong all we're going to see is the same old stuff over and over again. (bit like that paragraph, really

I admit to being a little irritated by all the fuss. Is a page without curation going to suffer? Is curation actually applicable to every niche? I don't think so.

And, I really think that we're all suffering from info-overload as it is. When we go looking for someone to follow it's generally not because that person makes us read heaps of other interesting but time-consuming references. We follow or admire that person because they don't waste our time with rubbish, but give us the skinny without fluff.

I'm kinda dreading the changes curation might bring.

At least in the old paradigm if you stumbled on someone's money-making niche site with a handful of crummy articles but some good product links while you were deciding which xbox thingy to buy at least you knew how to recognise the site for what it was. You ignored the crummy articles and clicked the product links - didn't you?

Now we're going to have to wade through a pile of vaguely related links and some 'quirky' commentary to go with it before we get to the stuff we're interested in.

How is this going to work if you're selling chicken coups, or organic tea blends, or homemade doggy treats? Surely curation is only for news, gossip, tech, IM and gadgets? I dunno.

It's just not blowing my skirt up.

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goindeep 13 years ago

I had only heard about it today actually. Not from this thread from a paid ad on the forum actually. I curate video and didnt even know what I was doing was curating... lol.

Does anyone offer an automated video curation service? Heh...
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Rsberg

14 years ago

I’m sure some will deny this (and already have to some point) but in reality curation is a form of autoblogging, all be it advanced and improved it is at its a core an autoblog.

I’ve been in several discussions over this issue with others here on this forum (as well as other forums) that hate autoblogging and always say that it's spam. My reply to that recently (over the past year or so) is that autoblogging has been and still is evolving from what it was 3 or 4 years ago, at least for those who are successful with it.

I’ve had detailed discussions with other autobloggers (at least 3 here) that (like myself) have been monitoring the quality of the content that gets posted to their sites while adding in their own quality unique articles/content that pull all it all together. This isn’t the Autoblogging of “yesteryear” where it was all about throw it against a wall and see what sticks.

The only real difference here is that in this case (curation) the site owner is also adding his own perspective, opinions and knowledge along with the auto posted content (making the site “his/her own”).

I personally think this is a very good model but I’m still convinced that this is simply an extension of quality autoblogging…which is probably why “auto haters” out there try to say it’s not.

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Sagar Mehta

14 years ago

Wow, this thread exploded!

I see the point behind curated websites (and newsletters) now.

It's like a 'one-stop-shop' for everything you need in a given niche (or sub-niche). It lets you choose among an already 'selective' list of things, saving you the work of doing it yourself.

The curator or editor of the website gives you all the 'happening' stuff in the niche. This stuff, however, goes through the human filter (the curator), and reflects her own private views, opinions and ideas. Just like a museum would reflect its curators preferences.

Of course, what will make or break the success of the website is whether the target audience likes what is being presented.

I would like to mention that 'happening' stuff doesn't always mean news. There are niches where 'updates' would simply mean new stuff discovered by the curator, and not actually news.

As an example, info on Lady Gaga would be 'happening' as there is new news coming constantly. On the other hand, info on 'tattoo patterns & designs' would be LESS 'happening' because there is no news in there.

I feel the success in case of any such website is a combination of SEO & marketing efforts, skills of the curator to pick good content and add her own flare to it AND a wee bit of luck.

Automation without the human part, would kill the whole concept I think. And THAT would be an autoblog.

What do you people think?

Sagar

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paulie888

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Sagar Mehta

Wow, this thread exploded!

I see the point behind curated websites (and newsletters) now.

It's like a 'one-stop-shop' for everything you need in a given niche (or sub-niche). It lets you choose among an already 'selective' list of things, saving you the work of doing it yourself.

The curator or editor of the website gives you all the 'happening' stuff in the niche. This stuff, however, goes through the human filter (the curator), and reflects her own private views, opinions and ideas. Just like a museum would reflect its curators preferences.

Of course, what will make or break the success of the website is whether the target audience likes what is being presented.

I would like to mention that 'happening' stuff doesn't always mean news. There are niches where 'updates' would simply mean new stuff discovered by the curator, and not actually news.

As an example, info on Lady Gaga would be 'happening' as there is new news coming constantly. On the other hand, info on 'tattoo patterns & designs' would be LESS 'happening' because there is no news in there.

I feel the success in case of any such website is a combination of SEO & marketing efforts, skills of the curator to pick good content and add her own flare to it AND a wee bit of luck.

Automation without the human part, would kill the whole concept I think. And THAT would be an autoblog.

What do you people think?

Sagar

It is at its core an expansion and development of a properly maintained autoblog. Anyone who says that an autoblog can be run without human intervention obviously does not understand how to manage an autoblog properly - all you'd end up with is a random collection of information that is essentially worthless.

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Rsberg

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Harlan

Steve can you elaborate on your views about auto-blogging Vs Curation.

I am sure he will say something along the lines of the quote below:

Originally Posted by Sagar Mehta

Automation without the human part, would kill the whole concept I think. And THAT would be an autoblog.

Sagar

One of the problems with this is that I've said on many occasions that today's autoblogging is different than it was years ago (mainly by the addition of the human "factor") but many people (typically auto haters) can't seem to accept that. I think they don't want to accept it because they would then have to change their opinions on autoblogging and give weight to the concept of its validity and longevity.

What auto haters want to do is stick with the old definition and understanding of what autoblogging is so that it will support the concept that autoblogging and curation aren't the same things or even remotely related. You can spin it anyway you want but you won't be able to change the fact that curation is at very least at its core an advanced autoblog. There is automation at play here, without it there wouldn’t be any content for the curator to manage and filter.

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Steven Rosenbaum

14 years ago

Yes, well said. I don't think that curation happens without humans. The last mile, the choice of content requires humans to contextualize -

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Brandon Tanner

14 years ago

So how is "curation" different than what Hubpages or Squidoo does? Or is it the same thing?

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Andyhenry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner

So how is "curation" different than what Hubpages or Squidoo does? Or is it the same thing?

I don't believe those 2 companies actually 'vet' any of the information for validity, quality or context. They'll allow any old rubbish to be created - they're not curating the content, just letting people (anyone) publish it.

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Brandon Tanner

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

I don't believe those 2 companies actually 'vet' any of the information for validity, quality or context. They'll allow any old rubbish to be created - they're not curating the content, just letting people (anyone) publish it.

But what I meant was that Hubpages/Squidoo's user's are the curators. Right?

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Colin Palfrey

14 years ago

Suddenly so many arguments I have seen on here make sense.

What you are describing as curating is in fact what many of us call the correct running of an autoblog. This is certainly nothing new but the buzz word has obviously made the difference in how it is perceived.

What many of us would define as a properly run autoblog is one where the feeds are not published, they are held in review, where only the best articles are chosen each day to appear on the website.

Along with that there would normally be parts of the posts or separate posts that have the purpose of explaining the different but relevant views expressed in the automatically collected posts that have been let through for publication.

The above it what alot of people call autoblogging but apparently some of you call curating. Yes there is also the other type of autoblogging, where the feeds all go live without review, but that is what many call a p*ss poor autoblog.

So in the past Harlan would start a post bashing autoblogs, and then Rsberg would come in on the defensive, as do many others. A huge argument ensues because Harlan counts the above as curating, while Rsberg counts it as autoblogging.

The whole time it seems the arguments have been based on cross-terminology.

Does anyone else agree, or is this just my pre-coffee brain at work.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

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Andyhenry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Colin Palfrey

What you are describing as curating is in fact what many of us call the correct running of an autoblog. This is certainly nothing new but the buzz word has obviously made the difference in how it is perceived.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

Hey Colin,

I understand what you're saying but I actually think it's more than that.

Autoblogging implies automating the collection of content and perhaps the publication.

That's great - and yes you can do it very selectively and create value, but it doesn't factor in things like - what events are going on in the industry, what context some of the information needs to be considered in to properly understand it etc...

It's like saying that this forum is a curation site - The content comes in from members, there are some scripts that show ads and banners, the mods move, filter, delete some of the content to keep it all relevant and logical - however there is not over-riding concept that the forum is trying to tell you everything that goes on in the industry - there are only videos if members post them, there is no industry news etc....

You can't completely automate the core of the curation idea because the very thing that makes it different is the value that the user interaction, contextualising and filtering brings to what would otherwise just be mashed up information from everywhere else.

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Colin Palfrey

14 years ago

Hi Andy,

I get what you're saying but that is still what I would consider a properly written and maintained autoblog.

When group A say "We are running an autoblog that adds value!" and group B says "All autoblogs are useless!" I think they are agreeing except for their terminology.

There are many autoblogs where the admin hand picks the posts and adds in the industry news and events. To me they are still called autoblogs, as it wasn't the admin personally that interviewed the people mentioned in the posts. Yes they write the posts that tie the whole thing together but the majority of content is still collected from others.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Hey Colin,

I understand what you're saying but I actually think it's more than that.

Autoblogging implies automating the collection of content and perhaps the publication.

That's great - and yes you can do it very selectively and create value, but it doesn't factor in things like - what events are going on in the industry, what context some of the information needs to be considered in to properly understand it etc...

It's like saying that this forum is a curation site - The content comes in from members, there are some scripts that show ads and banners, the mods move, filter, delete some of the content to keep it all relevant and logical - however there is not over-riding concept that the forum is trying to tell you everything that goes on in the industry - there are only videos if members post them, there is no industry news etc....

You can't completely automate the core of the curation idea because the very thing that makes it different is the value that the user interaction, contextualising and filtering brings to what would otherwise just be mashed up information from everywhere else.

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morsh

14 years ago

curation, wonder is the guy who make the word comes up from cure word ?

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Steven Rosenbaum

14 years ago

Since this thread seems to be exploring things I love, figured I'd join in.

First of all - like all buzzwords, Curation is going to be misused. Like 'the long tail' before it.

And, as some others have pointed out - much of what is now called 'curation' has it's roots in web behavior.

but, here's the 'dummies' guide (as requested)

Curation is the combination of content discover, content organization, content contextualization, and content creation.

It has become popular as content on the web has shifted from walled gardens to ubiquitous sharing

So, a site that is focused on Barbecue can have an active community that creates conversations (like this group) some admin created content, and links and embeds of discovered and filtered content.

It heralds the end of pure algorithmic discovery - the volume of content being created makes search, on it's own, an increasingly frustrating experience. Humans help make it better.

Happy to chat with folks about this - as I think it's a pretty positive turn of events.

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drmani

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Steven Rosenbaum

It heralds the end of pure algorithmic discovery - the volume of content being created makes search, on it's own, an increasingly frustrating experience. Humans help make it better.

The Mining Company (now About.com) had a jingle that went: "Take Back The Net"

It spoke to the "increasingly frustrating experience" - and about bringing back the
REAL power of the Web.

This was in 1997. The job is still a 'work in progress'.

Looking forward to reading your book, Steven

All success
Dr.Mani

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Steven Rosenbaum 14 years ago

indeed - Scott Kurnit the founder of the Mining Co is interviewed in the book about early days of Curation... they were their first -
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Andyhenry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Steven Rosenbaum

here's the 'dummies' guide (as requested)

Curation is the combination of content discover, content organization, content contextualization, and content creation.

Happy to chat with folks about this - as I think it's a pretty positive turn of events.

THANKS for dropping by and offering your thoughts Steve. It's much appreciated.

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Harlan 14 years ago

Steve is the author of Curation Nation.

Welcome to the Warrior Forum!

Steve can you elaborate on your views about auto-blogging Vs Curation.
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- drmani 14 years ago
  
  Now THIS is mind-blowingly AMAZING!!!
  
  Content Curation Tools to Aggregate, Filter, Edit, Curate and Distribute Any Type of Content - updated weekly - - MindMeister Mind Map
  
  Enjoy (and stay busy researching for a while!)
  
  All success
  Dr.Mani
  
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- Sandor Verebi 14 years ago
  
  Thanks, Steven.
  
  I expected something similar explanation. And I got it from the main competence - the author of the 'Curation Nation' explaining what is meant by the term.
  
  "Curation is the combination of content discover, content organization, content contextualization, and content creation."
  
  The picture is getting cleansed for me. Perhaps, less misunderstanding would have been, if we have received the information this way at the beginning.
  
  In any event, what you've done well - based on the acknowledgment of your audience - it must continue, I think. Or am I wrong?
  
  I'm curious to a sequel.
  
  Sandor
  
  Thanks
  
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Floyd Fisher

14 years ago

What's old is new again.

'Digital Curation' is simply another buzzword for broad, deep, relevant content. It's really all the game is about folks.

Like The Who once said, "Meet the new boss.....Same as the old boss"

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TimD

13 years ago

Wow Floyd. Are you kidding me? Curation is simply another word for broad, deep, relevant content. That's what you get out of this thread?

Originally Posted by Floyd Fisher

What's old is new again.

'Digital Curation' is simply another buzzword for broad, deep, relevant content. It's really all the game is about folks.

Like The Who once said, "Meet the new boss.....Same as the old boss"

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Colin Palfrey

14 years ago

Okay Sagar, I still don't get this, I think, so when is your WSO coming out lol

In regard to this:

Originally Posted by Sagar Mehta

Automation without the human part, would kill the whole concept I think. And THAT would be an autoblog.

Sagar

I think that is just your definition of an autoblog, and not the definition of many using them.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

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Colin Palfrey

14 years ago

Here is a video explaining exactly what curation is, and I still say this is just an explanation of modern autoblogging.

YouTube - Scoop.it

I should point out that I don't run any autoblogs myself, though I have written many books on the subject, and what is described in that video is modern autoblogging.

What a difference a name makes.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

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drmani

14 years ago

First of all, THANK YOU Harlan

I've spent an enjoyable 3 to 4 hours today LEARNING. Explored a ton of links
about content curation, and revised much of my 'old' knowledge while picking up
a lot of new information. My bookmarks folder has 14 or so links to review,
and my idea journal has plans for 9 areas where I'll be using this knowledge.

In case it helps Warriors, I'll share some research snippets from today's browsing.

Aggregating content and news from multiple sources and feeds is one, basic form of curation. The selection of news sources is per se an editorial choice, an act of curation, and in some cases it can provide good enough extra value to create value and even build services around it.

Sources are selected once and updated / vetted on a periodic basis, by a human curator.

"We've combined sophisticated automated aggregation technologies with direct editorial input from knowledgeable human editors to present the one indispensable narrative of an industry in transition.

We collect relevant takes on an issue and package them together in a comprehensive group of links.

That way, you not only get the lead opinion on an issue, but you can easily find the supporting, opposing, smart, controversial, notable, and previously unseen viewpoints.

You get the big picture."

Introducing MediaGazer - Megan McCarthy
Introducing Mediagazer «

The result of uncurated content, aggregated and filtered for the only purpose of creating new fresh content for a site, blog or brand, or to increase one's own SEO relevance can, in most cases, only be classified as spam... while it is easy to systematically aggregate a lot of content on just about any topic, the value of such automatically aggregated content is generally disappointing. There is not enough value in the basic aggregation and filtering.

Curated News Channels
Curated news channels, first aggregate and filter news content utilizing automated tools of which they control the input, aggregation and filtering variables, and then place all content through a curated editorial work flow, that sorts, organizes and picks out the most relevant stories to publish.

Only by knowing, or rather, by selecting a priori, a very specific audience interest, problem or need, the news curator can then proceed to source, aggregate, pick and select the most relevant stories to satisfy it.

Often those who are discovering the idea of news and content curation for the first time, see only the aspect of automatic aggregation, filtering and republication of content headlines and excerpts coming from other sources as being the revolutionary idea. The benefit they see right away is represented by the idea of sitting back and having great content published on their site on auto-pilot.

In fact, while this is indeed a possible true and tangible benefit (and tools are getting much better at doing this, almost unassisted), there is so much greater value and business opportunities that can be reaped when, true human curation is applied, allowing information and resources that were disconnected and hard to find, to become part of a story, collection, toolkit, report or guide.

Hope this helps

All success
Dr.Mani

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Sagar Mehta

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Colin Palfrey

Okay Sagar, I still don't get this, I think, so when is your WSO coming out lol

As soon as I get this myself, Colin

Originally Posted by drmani

I've spent an enjoyable 3 to 4 hours today LEARNING. Explored a ton of links about content curation, and revised much of my 'old' knowledge while picking up a lot of new information. My bookmarks folder has 14 or so links to review, and my idea journal has plans for 9 areas where I'll be using this knowledge.

DITTO! ...(well almost

)

I believe the underlying lessons are much more important than any of the the names (or fancy names) that marketers would give to a certain concept.

And the next most important things is of course, applying them.

Like a fellow Warrior said in another threadI was reading:
You only know what you apply.

Till now, I've never needed content automation because I never built any autoblogs. I'm not going to do that now either, but I have a new perspective on how this can be used on other websites that I'm used to building.

Sagar

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Colin Palfrey

14 years ago

All of that fits with modern autoblogging. Is this just a name issue?

I do want to state I have nothing against what is being described, it is just that I see many people that have argued against this concept, suddenly start backing it now it has a shiny new name tag.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

Originally Posted by drmani

First of all, THANK YOU Harlan

I've spent an enjoyable 3 to 4 hours today LEARNING. Explored a ton of links
about content curation, and revised much of my 'old' knowledge while picking up
a lot of new information. My bookmarks folder has 14 or so links to review,
and my idea journal has plans for 9 areas where I'll be using this knowledge.

In case it helps Warriors, I'll share some research snippets from today's browsing.

Quote:
Aggregating content and news from multiple sources and feeds is one, basic form of curation. The selection of news sources is per se an editorial choice, an act of curation, and in some cases it can provide good enough extra value to create value and even build services around it.

Sources are selected once and updated / vetted on a periodic basis, by a human curator.
Quote:
“We’ve combined sophisticated automated aggregation technologies with direct editorial input from knowledgeable human editors to present the one indispensable narrative of an industry in transition.

We collect relevant takes on an issue and package them together in a comprehensive group of links.

That way, you not only get the lead opinion on an issue, but you can easily find the supporting, opposing, smart, controversial, notable, and previously unseen viewpoints.

You get the big picture.”

Introducing MediaGazer - Megan McCarthy
Introducing Mediagazer «
Quote:
The result of uncurated content, aggregated and filtered for the only purpose of creating new fresh content for a site, blog or brand, or to increase one's own SEO relevance can, in most cases, only be classified as spam... while it is easy to systematically aggregate a lot of content on just about any topic, the value of such automatically aggregated content is generally disappointing. There is not enough value in the basic aggregation and filtering.
Quote:
Curated News Channels
Curated news channels, first aggregate and filter news content utilizing automated tools of which they control the input, aggregation and filtering variables, and then place all content through a curated editorial work flow, that sorts, organizes and picks out the most relevant stories to publish.
Quote:
Only by knowing, or rather, by selecting a priori, a very specific audience interest, problem or need, the news curator can then proceed to source, aggregate, pick and select the most relevant stories to satisfy it.
Quote:
Often those who are discovering the idea of news and content curation for the first time, see only the aspect of automatic aggregation, filtering and republication of content headlines and excerpts coming from other sources as being the revolutionary idea. The benefit they see right away is represented by the idea of sitting back and having great content published on their site on auto-pilot.

In fact, while this is indeed a possible true and tangible benefit (and tools are getting much better at doing this, almost unassisted), there is so much greater value and business opportunities that can be reaped when, true human curation is applied, allowing information and resources that were disconnected and hard to find, to become part of a story, collection, toolkit, report or guide.
Hope this helps

All success
Dr.Mani

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drmani

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Colin Palfrey

All of that fits with modern autoblogging. Is this just a name issue?

I do want to state I have nothing against what is being described, it is just that I see many people that have argued against this concept, suddenly start backing it now it has a shiny new name tag.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

I may be *completely* misunderstanding what you mean, Colin, but
to my mind, "auto-blogging" is automated - and content curation
is initiated by automated tools but involves human oversight,
analysis, selection, judgment and optionally commentary.

In other words, while "auto-blogging" can be 'set and forget',
true content curation never can.

All success
Dr.Mani

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Colin Palfrey

14 years ago

Originally Posted by drmani

I may be *completely* misunderstanding what you mean, Colin, but
to my mind, "auto-blogging" is automated - and content curation
is initiated by automated tools but involves human oversight,
analysis, selection, judgment and optionally commentary.

In other words, while "auto-blogging" can be 'set and forget',
true content curation never can.

All success
Dr.Mani

Hi Dr.Mani,

In fact most modern autoblogging is done in the same way.

The feeds direct the information and present it to the admin. The admin then look through the aggregated data and allow through only the most relevant bits, by hand. If the context of the posts need explaining then that is done.

This is how anyone building a serious autoblog does it. Things have moved on since the bad old days of straight RSS syndication.

Regards,
Colin Palfrey

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Rsberg

14 years ago

Originally Posted by drmani

to my mind, "auto-blogging" is automated - and content curation
is initiated by automated tools but involves human oversight,
analysis, selection, judgment and optionally commentary.

In other words, while "auto-blogging" can be 'set and forget',
true content curation never can.

All success
Dr.Mani

As Colin stated...most modern autoblogging is done this way. I would add one important factor to qualify that ...most modern SUCCESSFUL autoblogging is done this way.

I've never publically spoken about the money I make or the number of autoblogs I run (and I won't go into specifics here either) but I have several (as compared to most) and do pretty well with them (especially considering the amount of time I invest in them). I've run my autoblogs the same way for a few years now.

I can tell you for a fact that I am not the only one approaching autoblogging in this fashion. Below is how I build and maintain my autoblogs:

Building - 95% automated to include chosen WP Theme install with hosting cPannel and plugin management.

My software aggregates content from several sources (7 that I use regularly) and holds it in place for me for my personal "analysis" using my "judgment" I then make my "selection" as to which content meets my standards and sometimes I will post my own content (commentary) with that content to either tie it all together or delve deeper into the subject. After I have made these decisions I then click publish and the content is scheduled to post in the format I chose and is drip fed over time until new content is needed because the last drip fed scheduled postings have ran out.

The only thing that's not automated with my system is the process of my choosing which content meets my standards and buying the domain name...

I don't want to come off as argumentative but I have to say (as Colin has said), curation is simply modern autoblogging...it just has a more socially acceptable name now which allows the auto haters to get on board with it.

Robert

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Colin Palfrey

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Rsberg

As Colin stated...most modern autoblogging is done this way. I would add one important factor to qualify that ...most modern SUCCESSFUL autoblogging is done this way.

I've never publically spoken about the money I make or the number of autoblogs I run (and I won't go into specifics here either) but I have several (as compared to most) and do pretty well with them (especially considering the amount of time I invest in them). I've run my autoblogs the same way for a few years now.

I can tell you for a fact that I am not the only one approaching autoblogging in this fashion. Below is how I build and maintain my autoblogs:

Building - 95% automated to include chosen WP Theme install with hosting cPannel and plugin management.

My software aggregates content from several sources (7 that I use regularly) and holds it in place for me for my personal "analysis" using my "judgment" I then make my "selection" as to which content meets my standards and sometimes I will post my own content (commentary) with that content to either tie it all together or delve deeper into the subject. After I have made these decisions I then click publish and the content is scheduled to post in the format I chose and is drip fed over time until new content is needed because the last drip feed scheduled postings have ran out.

The only thing that's not automated with my system is the process of my choosing which content meets my standards and buying the domain name...

I dont want to come off as argumentative but I have to say (as Colin has said), curation is simply modern autoblogging...it just has a more socially acceptable name now which allows the auto haters to get on baord with it.

Robert

Robert,

I would suggest adding Facebook comments into the mix. This means that when a user comments on your autoblogs it displays on their Facebook profile, helping the site go viral, and tying your Facebook campaign into the mix.

You should of course also be using Networked blogs to feed your posts to Facebook, as this will then help to push your content into the 2.0 sites without further work. Then throw an auto twitter feed into the mix as well. It adds extra work to the sites up-keep, but vastly expands your reach.

You probably know all this but I thought I would add it for the others.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

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Rsberg

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Colin Palfrey

Robert,

I would suggest adding Facebook comments into the mix. This means that when a user comments on your autoblogs it displays on their Facebook profile, helping the site go viral, and tying your Facebook campaign into the mix.

You should of course also be using Networked blogs to feed your posts to Facebook, as this will then help to push your content into the 2.0 sites without further work. Then throw an auto twitter feed into the mix as well. It adds extra work to the sites up-keep, but vastly expands your reach.

You probably know all this but I thought I would add it for the others.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

Working on updating the automation for this as we speek actually. I had been doing this with an older version but found it needed some additional features.

Certainly good info for others who didn't know already and I might add it does add another human factor into the overall mix as well, which personalizes the autoblog even more.

Robert

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drmani

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Rsberg

I don't want to come off as argumentative but I have to say (as Colin has said), curation is simply modern autoblogging...it just has a more socially acceptable name now which allows the auto haters to get on board with it.

Robert

Colin, Robert, thank you for the explanation of what you call
"modern auto-blogging", I agree that, explained that way, it does
sound very like one form of content curation.

More notes from my research/reading:

There are different types of content curation, including

* Curated news summaries and link lists
* Curated guides and tutorials ('Best of' style)
* Crowdsourced curated news aggregation (like Digg)
* Curated news channels
* Real time news curation

Of these types, the "modern autoblogging" that you and Colin are
explaining very likely falls into the category of "curated news
channels". The 'real time' element isn't critical for this, but
if you're calling ONLY that 'content curation', or limiting the
term to one type of the range of activities that make up the whole,
it's a misrepresentation of sorts.

Also, I'll say that for the vast majority of 'haters' of autoblogs,
the concept of autoblogging is SIGNIFICANTLY different from the
way you've both explained modern autoblogging. The way I've heard
it referred all the time is to slap together a mashup of feeds
(mainly) and scraped content, into a kind of SEO'd soup that's
structured to rank high on SERPs allowing display ads, banners or
other monetization to kick in.

So, if you're looking to make "autoblogging" respectable, maybe
a name change (or semantic repositioning, if you will) is more
likely to get the job done than any amount of passionate defence
of what MANY see as a glorified form of Web spamming!

All success
Dr.Mani

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Harlan 14 years ago

Not that their needs to be agreement here but I don't agree that auto blogging is content curation. Yes you are selecting comment but typically, you aren't adding anything new - hence the added value of content curation.

Curation is labor intensive.

But I believe long term, curated sites will be worth good money.
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Rsberg

14 years ago

Originally Posted by drmani

Colin, Robert, thank you for the explanation of what you call
"modern auto-blogging", I agree that, explained that way, it does
sound very like one form of content curation.

More notes from my research/reading:

There are different types of content curation

I would agree with this based off of what I have read about "curation" so far...thanks for posting all the links BTW.

Originally Posted by drmani

Also, I'll say that for the vast majority of 'haters' of autoblogs,
the concept of autoblogging is SIGNIFICANTLY different from the
way you've both explained modern autoblogging. The way I've heard
it referred all the time is to slap together a mashup of feeds
(mainly) and scraped content, into a kind of SEO'd soup that's
structured to rank high on SERPs allowing display ads, banners or
other monetization to kick in.

This is why I (as well as many others) believe the definition of autoblogging is changing. It almost has to change to contniue to exist. There has been an outcry against the old style autoblog and I doubt they will continue to thrive much longer.

Originally Posted by drmani

So, if you're looking to make "autoblogging" respectable, maybe
a name change (or semantic repositioning, if you will) is more
likely to get the job done than any amount of passionate defence
of what MANY see as a glorified form of Web spamming!

All success
Dr.Mani

I've called it "semi-autoblogging" for some time now, I know others who call it "intelligent autoblogging". The thing to keep in mind here, regardless what tag/name you put on it, it's all semantics (like you suggest)...it's still atuoblogging, just improved.

Originally Posted by Harlan

Not that their needs to be agreement here but I don't agree that auto blogging is content curation. Yes you are selecting comment but typically, you aren't adding anything new - hence the added value of content curation.

I don't agree that autoblogging is curation either, I believe curation is autoblogging with a fancy name so it's more acceptable to those who don't like autoblogging. I will admit there are some differences but as I've said before...at its core...curation is autoblogging.

I've said a few times that I am adding content, maybe not as much as "curation" is but certianly enough to spark the comparison. My autoblogs are about an 80/20 split from auto to unique...so it isn't exactly one unique or "new" piece of content per site.

Originally Posted by Harlan

Curation is labor intensive.

But I believe long term, curated sites will be worth good money.

I'm sure its more labor intensive than my autoblogging is but once again, what I consider autoblogging is certianly more labor intensive than what most still think it is. I also agree that they could be worth good money as well...I know my autoblogs are

I think in the end this will have to be one of those times where two sides of a discussion will just have to agree to disagree...

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nubchai

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Rsberg

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]

As Colin stated...most modern autoblogging is done this way. I would add one important factor to qualify that ...most modern SUCCESSFUL autoblogging is done this way.

I've never publically spoken about the money I make or the number of autoblogs I run (and I won't go into specifics here either) but I have several (as compared to most) and do pretty well with them (especially considering the amount of time I invest in them). I've run my autoblogs the same way for a few years now.

I can tell you for a fact that I am not the only one approaching autoblogging in this fashion. Below is how I build and maintain my autoblogs:

Building - 95% automated to include chosen WP Theme install with hosting cPannel and plugin management.

My software aggregates content from several sources (7 that I use regularly) and holds it in place for me for my personal "analysis" using my "judgment" I then make my "selection" as to which content meets my standards and sometimes I will post my own content (commentary) with that content to either tie it all together or delve deeper into the subject. After I have made these decisions I then click publish and the content is scheduled to post in the format I chose and is drip fed over time until new content is needed because the last drip fed scheduled postings have ran out.

The only thing that's not automated with my system is the process of my choosing which content meets my standards and buying the domain name...

I don't want to come off as argumentative but I have to say (as Colin has said), curation is simply modern autoblogging...it just has a more socially acceptable name now which allows the auto haters to get on board with it.

Robert

Robert,

I think your definition of your "modern" autoblogging process fits the definition of curation. Earlier examples of autoblogging were set and forget with the autoblogging software automatically dripping updates to the blog. You've added human intervention where you select the collected content and in some cases add your own content.

Can you share what autoblogging software you use for this?

Thanks,
Sandy

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Rsberg

14 years ago

Originally Posted by nubchai

Robert,

I think your definition of your "modern" autoblogging process fits the definition of curation. Earlier examples of autoblogging were set and forget with the autoblogging software automatically dripping updates to the blog. You've added human intervention where you select the collected content and in some cases add your own content.

Can you share what autoblogging software you use for this?

Thanks,
Sandy

Sandy,

I appreciate your seeing the connection I was trying to make.

I use my own software (that's not available to the public yet) but don't really want to derail the thread by going into it in more depth...sorry about that.

Robert

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Alan Petersen

14 years ago

Looks like earlier this week Google slapped some of those popular sites like the Huffington Post, Mahalo, and others...

Google's algorithm change hits 12% of search results - Feb. 25, 2011

Wasn't the Huffington Post an example of a curation site?

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Sandor Verebi

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

Looks like earlier this week Google slapped some of those popular sites like the Huffington Post, Mahalo, and others...

Google's algorithm change hits 12% of search results - Feb. 25, 2011

Wasn't the Huffington Post an example of a curation site?

Alan, you are right, I think.

As we know, Matt Cuts promised taking actions against so called 'content farms'. And they made that step this way. Reason, as they expained:

"The changes appear to be affecting so-called "content farms" the most, which are websites that amass content based on the most-searched terms of the day. Demand Media, AOL, Mahalo and the Huffington Post have all been accused of such tactics..."

This is why you can find comments expressing indignations on webmasterworld.com. Some people suddenly have lost 35 - 55 percent of their traffic, as they said.

So, the game continues...

All the best,

Sandor

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nubchai

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Rsberg

Sandy,

I appreciate your seeing the connection I was trying to make.

I use my own software (that's not available to the public yet) but don't really want to derail the thread by going into it in more depth...sorry about that.

Robert

Hi Robert

No problem at all

This is a new subject area and I'm nosy about the few people who are implementing it lol. I saw a list somewhere of curation software and it ranged from free to mega pricey.

Continued success,

Sandy

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theory expert

Banned 14 years ago

Hadn't read all the posts, but, I was on myspace last night, and, saw an ad with a cat with glasses. The word at the top of the cat was curator, or, curation(cant remember which one). I didn't click on the ad, but, was wondering did anyone else see it.

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Chris Hunter

14 years ago

Definition of Curation:

Any Gawker site. Seriously. Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jezebel, etc.

Or look at TechCrunch or even Mashable.

Those are all prime examples in action daily.

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Daniel Deegan

14 years ago

Just dropping a quick tidbit. Demand studios, the folks behind eHow and other sites are going to add curation into their current model. Theres a small blurb from the head of DS in the article below.

Demand Media’s Rosenblatt Defends His Company’s Content | paidContent

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cyberws

14 years ago

"Now, one distinction between 'curation' and 'aggregation' is in order. Aggregation can be fully automated, with scripts and tools. Curation - at least curation that's worth its name - cannot. And should not."

EXACTLY! Auto blogging and a well-curated site aren't even cousins, much less the same animal.

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Rsberg

14 years ago

Originally Posted by cyberws

"Now, one distinction between 'curation' and 'aggregation' is in order. Aggregation can be fully automated, with scripts and tools. Curation - at least curation that's worth its name - cannot. And should not."

EXACTLY! Auto blogging and a well-curated site aren't even cousins, much less the same animal.

- Both require automation to work.
- Many autobloggers are now adding unique content to their sites.
- Many autobloggers are reviewing the auto content to be sure only quality content is posted to their blogs.

I guess you're right, not related at all...:rolleyes:

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Dana_W

14 years ago

And that's why I love the WF - the place to come to learn about the latest trends.

If I am understanding this correctly - having a "curated" blog simply involves find stuff -videos, articles, etc. - that people have produced in your niche/area of interest - organic gardening, fiction writing, pets, health and beauty, whatever - and this stuff generally was NOT created for your blog originally, it was run on someone else's blog or website.

So you are picking the best of the best. And then you write a brief blurb about the video or article, and you link to it.

And you may also produce some stuff of your own that is related to your topic/niche

Am I understanding the concept correctly?

If so, I'm not putting it down, but it just seems like a specialized, moderated version of "best of the web" sites to me. Plenty of websites have resource lists and links with commentary on them. Am I missing something?

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paulie888

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Dana_W

And that's why I love the WF - the place to come to learn about the latest trends.

If I am understanding this correctly - having a "curated" blog simply involves find stuff -videos, articles, etc. - that people have produced in your niche/area of interest - organic gardening, fiction writing, pets, health and beauty, whatever - and this stuff generally was NOT created for your blog originally, it was run on someone else's blog or website.

So you are picking the best of the best. And then you write a brief blurb about the video or article, and you link to it.

And you may also produce some stuff of your own that is related to your topic/niche

Am I understanding the concept correctly?

If so, I'm not putting it down, but it just seems like a specialized, moderated version of "best of the web" sites to me. Plenty of websites have resource lists and links with commentary on them. Am I missing something?

Dana, I think you've pretty much summed up curation in a few short paragraphs, except that I don't think it's just a moderated version of an autoblog. I'd think it would have more unique content than that, preferably written by someone who was well-versed in the blog's main area of focus. For more on what a curated blog looks like on a huge scale, have a look at the Huffington Post. It does take some expertise and effort to get it right, and it'd be one step beyond an autoblog in terms of content; it may be a little difficult to ascertain the distinctions without taking a closer look at a curated blog's content though.

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Daniel Scott

14 years ago

My understanding was you're kind of doing that... but a little more in depth.

When you link to things, you stress specific points. E.g. you introduce a concept and introduce stuff for further explanation/reading (this article has a fantastic essay on x, but personally I'd ignore the y).

You are using the web as a kind of backup source, using existing content to help explain YOUR particular frame of understanding and "school of thought".

They also kind of serve as hubs, I think, to more specialized areas of content.

Of course, branding is still important. But I think what separates good and bad websites of this type is how the creator can pull things together for a sharper user experience.

-Daniel

Originally Posted by Dana_W

And that's why I love the WF - the place to come to learn about the latest trends.

If I am understanding this correctly - having a "curated" blog simply involves find stuff -videos, articles, etc. - that people have produced in your niche/area of interest - organic gardening, fiction writing, pets, health and beauty, whatever - and this stuff generally was NOT created for your blog originally, it was run on someone else's blog or website.

So you are picking the best of the best. And then you write a brief blurb about the video or article, and you link to it.

And you may also produce some stuff of your own that is related to your topic/niche

Am I understanding the concept correctly?

If so, I'm not putting it down, but it just seems like a specialized, moderated version of "best of the web" sites to me. Plenty of websites have resource lists and links with commentary on them. Am I missing something?

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IMToday

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Daniel Scott

My understanding was you're kind of doing that... but a little more in depth.

When you link to things, you stress specific points. E.g. you introduce a concept and introduce stuff for further explanation/reading (this article has a fantastic essay on x, but personally I'd ignore the y).

You are using the web as a kind of backup source, using existing content to help explain YOUR particular frame of understanding and "school of thought".

-Daniel

Technically speaking, the word curate simply means to select and/or to organize. Adding your own unique spin or content to it isn't required, although it does have it's place and sometimes makes sense.

Consider two different examples ...

1. You're looking to buy a sports car for around $100k. You would look to websites that listed and categorized cars that fit the bill, but moreso than that, you would want reviews from people who were more knowledgeable than you to help you select the right car. Ideally, a professional race car driver would tell you the pros and cons of each car and how they stack up against one another, etc. etc. In this case, a simple list of cars that cost around $100k probably wouldn't help you out a whole lot.

2. On the other hand, consider a website that curated Internet marketing content from 250+ blogs, all the popular discussion forums, Twitter, etc. Just the act of curating or "selecting" the most important and the most popular content and posting links to this curated content all in one place, without adding any new content or commentary, would be pretty useful to a lot of people wouldn't it?

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Kurt

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Harlan

Dr Mani, the Lizard site isn't close to a curation site. It's grabbing content like any autoblog but curation? Not close.

Why would anyone want to come back to that site twice?

Originally Posted by drmani

Harlan, it has been 'abandoned' for quite a few years, but Kurt set it with feeds
that drew fresh content from various relevant sources - and the model it's based
on would create semi-curated sites that could grow into authority resources in
certain niches.

...

All success
Dr.Mani

First, let me say that www.Lizardz.com doesn't "grab" content from anywhere. But, Dr. Mani is correct in that years ago Lizardz did curate RSS pheeds as content many years ago.

As a matter of fact, when I first put Lizardz up, I posted about it here and got 100% positive reviews for the quality of content.

However, my www.ProFootballUpdates.com site is a 100% auto-curated site. I haven't touched the site (or promoted it) since I built it over 2 years ago, so some of the RSS pheeds have failed and there isn't as much content per team as there was.

But considering it's been two years and I haven't touched it at all, it's holding up pretty well.

I have curated content for all 32 teams + general NFL news. Every day my system creates 33 pages. In addition, the site automacially sends 33 newsletters out on auto-pilot. Each newsletter includes team news as well as relevant team ebay auction items.

For those wanting to check it out, look for some of the older pages when all the RSS pheeds were working and you can get a better idea of the content that was being curated for each team.

Also notice that this site has about 18,700 pages indexed by Google:
site:profootballupdates.com - Google Search

(I need to find the time to update it, but since I never promoted it and there's so many teams to update, I've simply procrastinated doing it.)

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Harlan

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

However, my www.ProFootballUpdates.com site is a 100% auto-curated site. I haven't touched the site (or promoted it) since I built it over 2 years ago, so some of the RSS pheeds have failed and there isn't as much content per team as there was.

But considering it's been two years and I haven't touched it at all, it's holding up pretty well.

You have an automatic site.

But you don't have a curated site.

Curation means a human curator.

That simply does not exist.

http://meditationtechniques.co is a curated site.

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Kurt

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Harlan

You have an automatic site.

But you don't have a curated site.

Curation means a human curator.

That simply does not exist.

Meditation Techniques - Free Guided Meditations - New Meditation Techniques Daily is a curated site.

No, I have an automated curated site. I curated the feeds and sources, as well as the keywords used by examining the results over some time that were used for the automation, and I am a human.

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Harlan

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

No, I have an automated curated site. I curated the feeds and sources, as well as the keywords used by examining the results over some time that were used for the automation, and I am a human.

That's an interesting perspective. I suspect - although neither of us can be sure - that Google will not see the human aspect or the added value your site brings.

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Kurt

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Harlan

That's an interesting perspective. I suspect - although neither of us can be sure - that Google will not see the human aspect or the added value your site brings.

Ironic that Google has to see a "human aspect" in order to give value, don't you think?

Plus, I have a feeling Google wants to see links to help figure out the "value". If I spent time and did constant linking, I have a feeling Google would like the site just fine.

When I first created the site and it was well maintained, the value was tons of on-topic news stories from various respected resources were all in one place. As a matter of fact, I'd say that when the site was new, that any NFL fan would have found more timely info about their team from my site than any other on the web. And instead of having to visit 6-10 different sites to get the same headlines, I put them all in one place for NFL team fans.

BTW, an interesting side note is that Google seems to have a bigger problem with me having ebay ads on the site rather than the site's content. I "fixed" the ebay feeds a few months ago and since then, the number of pages indexed fluctuates greatly. In the previous 1 3/4 years where I literally didn't touch the site at all, the pages indexed grew at a constant rate.

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Harlan

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

BTW, an interesting side note is that Google seems to have a bigger problem with me having ebay ads on the site rather than the site's content. I "fixed" the ebay feeds a few months ago and since then, the number of pages indexed fluctuates greatly. In the previous 1 3/4 years where I literally didn't touch the site at all, the pages indexed grew at a constant rate.

Bet ya Google wouldn't have a problem if you were running Google ads...

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Kurt 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Harlan

Bet ya Google wouldn't have a problem if you were running Google ads...

The site has always had Adsense on it...
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- Harlan 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Kurt
  
  The site has always had Adsense on it...
  
  You know better than me Google is getting pissy about Adsense.
  
  Switch to Google display ads and watch what happens...
  
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JR Consulting

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

No, I have an automated curated site. I curated the feeds and sources, as well as the keywords used by examining the results over some time that were used for the automation, and I am a human.

I think the word for that is aggregator, as opposed to curator.

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Kurt 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Reidy

I think the word for that is aggregator, as opposed to curator.

And I think the more accurate phrase for this is "automated curation". An aggregator doesn't store info in an archive, it merely collects and updates. Show me an aggregator that creates archives and sends email newsletters, then we'll talk about me changing my definition.
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Harlan 13 years ago

Obviously, the Huffington Post is another curated site.

As is Mashable, Onthesnow, PerezHilton, and many many more.
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laltman

14 years ago

The ultimate curated site is probably the Huffington Post - and it's done pretty well.
Actually if you look at it- it's a mix. Some curated content. Some original content. And generally the curated content has some commentary added to it. If all you are doing is offering curated content then you don't get the same degree of "authority halo."

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dagaul101

13 years ago

It's great that SEO is never standing still, and folks are always trying new things to find out what works, which means there is still life in the old dog yet, regardless of the search engine algorithms we encounter

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LarryC

13 years ago

While there's certainly potential in the curation concept if you do it right, I think many people are misunderstanding it. I say this because I just did a search for an article I recently submitted to see who may have picked it up. I found it on about half a dozen sites, along with other articles from Ezinearticles. It seems lots of sites are just piling up directory articles. None of these sites appears to be well ranking, and most are probably relatively new. Maybe sites like this have existed for a long time and I just never noticed them. But I think some are doing this in the belief that they're following the "curation" model.

Of course, real curation sites provide useful commentary along with the content they publish. Simply listing dozens or hundreds of articles is a rather pointless exercise. A visitor may as well just visit the article directory.

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JohnMcCabe

13 years ago

Originally Posted by LarryC

While there's certainly potential in the curation concept if you do it right, I think many people are misunderstanding it. I say this because I just did a search for an article I recently submitted to see who may have picked it up. I found it on about half a dozen sites, along with other articles from Ezinearticles. It seems lots of sites are just piling up directory articles. None of these sites appears to be well ranking, and most are probably relatively new. Maybe sites like this have existed for a long time and I just never noticed them. But I think some are doing this in the belief that they're following the "curation" model.

Larry, many of the sites you see doing this are using automated software to populate their sites with content. A lot of them just enter a few keywords, and the software pulls what it thinks are related articles from the directory's RSS feed.

I can't say if they think they are 'doing curation' but many of the ones I've talked to seem to believe that "lots (hundreds, thousands) of pages" equals "Authority".

Originally Posted by LarryC

Of course, real curation sites provide useful commentary along with the content they publish. Simply listing dozens or hundreds of articles is a rather pointless exercise. A visitor may as well just visit the article directory.

And the truth shall set you free...

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Kurt

13 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

Larry, many of the sites you see doing this are using automated software to populate their sites with content. A lot of them just enter a few keywords, and the software pulls what it thinks are related articles from the directory's RSS feed.

I can't say if they think they are 'doing curation' but many of the ones I've talked to seem to believe that "lots (hundreds, thousands) of pages" equals "Authority".

And the truth shall set you free...

I do this on my Profootballupdates site. However, it isn't as easy as just entering some keywords if you are concerned about providing quality content, even if the site is automated.

For example, think it's OK to just use "denver broncos" or "detroit lions" as keywords? If I did that, my results would include Ford Bronco results and news about the lates lion added to some zoo somewhere.

I spent time researching and tweaking each pheed, using search terms to eliminate some results where needed.

For example, "denver broncos" -ford to take the results for vehicles out of the results.

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JohnMcCabe

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

I do this on my Profootballupdates site. However, it isn't as easy as just entering some keywords if you are concerned about providing quality content, even if the site is automated.

For example, think it's OK to just use "denver broncos" or "detroit lions" as keywords? If I did that, my results would include Ford Bronco results and news about the lates lion added to some zoo somewhere.

I spent time researching and tweaking each pheed, using search terms to eliminate some results where needed.

For example, "denver broncos" -ford to take the results for vehicles out of the results.

And that's why your site has held up as well as it has.

There are a lot of autobloggers out there who don't give a rat's rump about quality content, automated or not. Hence my comment...

The same phenomenon happens with PPC advertising. Some people take the time to manage their campaigns, optimizing their keywords and bids until the campaign is almost on autopilot. Others bid for top spots on the most competitive keywords, don't bother with negative keywords, and drop a bundle on an unprofitable promotion. For them, PPC does not work, and they are right to avoid it.

Back to automated sites like yours. You took the time to get good feeds, filter out the wrong stuff and get generally good content. But I see tons of sites in my travels online where the content has a common keyword with the site topic, but no real relevance.

Thanks

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Alex Kage

13 years ago

The price some companies charge for this service is huge. I've seen them charge over $1000.

Thanks

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busybusinessman

13 years ago

I've never heard the term before but if it's what I think it means from reading the replies I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. If it means duplicating content from elsewhere then Google will definitely punish your website by pushing it dowm the page rankings. If you don't care abourt Google then fine. I just know that more then 90% of searches in the UK are done through Google and if you are serious about your business you should be concentrating on online and offline SEO to get all that free traffic it provides.

Thanks
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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by busybusinessman

I've never heard the term before but if it's what I think it means from reading the replies I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. If it means duplicating content from elsewhere then Google will definitely punish your website by pushing it dowm the page rankings. If you don't care abourt Google then fine. I just know that more then 90% of searches in the UK are done through Google and if you are serious about your business you should be concentrating on online and offline SEO to get all that free traffic it provides.

LOL

Even if you do care about Google, there are some really high ranked websites online that are curated websites.

The only reason people are talking about it now is because someone here in the forum wants you to talk about it, because he is positioning himself as an expert in the practice (not the OP).

Thanks

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Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)

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frankpoku

13 years ago

Talking about bog curation, I came across this guy and infact I listened to his webinar on this subject. You can check him out:

What Is Curation?

Thanks.

Thanks

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Michael Mayo

13 years ago

Harlan, Kurt, That's why I Subscribed, Bookmarked, set a Google Alert and
created a desktop shortcut to this thread. I didn't want to miss a tid-bit
of this info.

Priceless...

Thanks,
Have a Great Day!
Michael