So the last two years of social media behavior has increased the buzz-worthiness of the curation concept.
To curate is to organize and preserve for presentation. Social media curating is to organize online behaviors in specific social spaces with the intent to craft a message (or perhaps a campaign) in such a way that it is well received by audiences in those spaces, as well as widely shared with additional audiences.
Unlike the more formal, museum-level curation work of gallery owners and fine art experts, social media curation usually involves a mindset equal parts campaign organizer, news aggregator, and viral guru. For curators of online content, the goal is to make sure your fans, followers, readers and/or (insert appropriate conversational group here) remain focused on and then share the messages about which you care. Get the message out, keep them focused, induce sharing. Do it enough, and your content conversation will grow. Repetition of thematic conversations will, if a curator is lucky, lead to the positive outcomes desired by the curator’s organization.
Consider two case studies—one imaginary and one real.
A curation template
On the imaginary front, Widget 2.0 Factory understands that its widgets are somewhat valued by collectors even though the Widget 1.0 and beta were really designed for heavy construction and airplane parts. Widget 2.0 Factory understands that the new market for widgets has likewise entered a 2.0 marketplace where use-value is conjoined with scarcity value. 2.0 is a collector’s world.
Widget 2.0 Factory builds out a landing page connected to Facebook and Twitter. The social media curator for Widget 2.0 Factory then organizes a number of social media events to coincide with monthly launches of various widget 2.0 products. The C Suite status updates at least once a day on LinkedIn, numerous secondary influencers are recruited to tweet and share only during the four days adjacent to each product launch, and the landing page provides links out to secondary pages with information and aggregated feeds regarding the fun of collecting both 2.0 widgets and similar fare. The Widget 2.0 social media curator essentially puts on display a whole host of messages introducing and maintaining the perception that a community is involved in the collection behavior that drives both a primary and a secondary market in 2.0 widget collection.
In the example above, secondary pages will probably include YouTube (and similar video sites), Flickr, Slideshare, and TwitterFeed aggregation. Management tools such as HootSuite will be deployed to co-launch messages across myriad social media channels and to track those messages and assess their impact on variegated publics. Database driven solutions will aid the engagement process for the social media curator and her team of engagement specialists. They use data-driven techniques on the back end, while front-end behavior involves aggregate messaging both with original material and material from others.
Case study: Kickstarter
The second case study is the curation option provided to groups on Kickstarter, an online space designed for small and large fundraising. Anyone — I mean this; my 7-year-old son was even able to build a Kickstarter campaign — can sign up and craft his or her own fundraiser using the site.
Though largely populated by artists, musicians, writers, and techies, Kickstarter has gained notice across a number of social sectors. The curation element enters stage right as Kickstarter offers some organizations their own multiple campaigns page with a share code.
So, for example, larger organizations such as Vimeo and YouTube can feature and/or “underwrite” projects by including them on their Kickstarter page, advertising them on their own site, and encouraging others to share the campaign. Ultimately, such campaigns are intended to raise funds for individualize, small project.
The Laughing Squid company provides an interesting case in campaign creation, curation and success. Its Kickstarter page shows that the company successfully aided funding projects such as “Minecraft: The Story of Mojang” at 140% of the original project need, or what ended up being $210,297. It was also successful in aiding NeighborGoods to get funded at 113% or $11,391.
With thousands of Google-recognized backlinks to its curated page, this is a very powerful partnership opportunity for artists, documentarians, and the Laughing Squid organization itself. In fact, its curation of ongoing campaigns on Kickstarter continues to increase its name/Web exposure by increasing diversified traffic from its many campaigns. Curation for these kinds of Kickstarter pages increases in power because of the shared and viral nature each of the campaigns brings to the site.
In each of these case studies, curation operates as a kind of supported message on the part of an organization. In the first example, Widget 2.0 Factory is conducting a more traditional communication campaign using curation as a component of its strategic plan. In the second example, Laughing Squid supports projects it believes in while gaining additional Web exposure. On both fronts, curation is essentially managed behavior. Laughing Squid, though, like many curating organizations using Kickstarter, gets it right. It curates projects it sees as worthy of their support, and it lets the love spread.
For social media managers, awareness of content curation must be matched with an ethic of care for the collection of materials and behaviors involved. After all, intellectual property, authenticity, and our feelings can be eroded. Let’s just hope the ever-expanding use of content curation is matched with managerial responsibility.