Curation has transformed the ways we get information and goods. As tons of new contents are being created over and over, content curation becomes wide-spread.
The origin of curation
The word “curate” comes from the Latin “curatus,” the past participle tense of “curare,” which means “to take care of.” Over the decades, the word “curate” has spread around museums and exhibitions. Then it became a buzzword as the content marketing has boomed as a marketing strategy bible.
The boom of content curation
The term ‘choice disorder(hamlet syndrome)’ was once popular in South Korea. When there are too many options to choose, we feel burden and often end up giving up to make a choice. Now or then, it is unchanging fact that too many choices overwhelm us.
The overflow of information has brought the age of curation forward. With tons of information to process, we want to get the most relevant and quality information from the experts.
There are many curation services that provide the most relevant information we need. Like the daily e-mails you read every morning while you commute.
Curation, how they gained popularity?
Why has the curation services gained popularity?
First, customer demands. Because there were demands, there were supplies. Second, and more importantly, the entrance barrier for suppliers got lowered. Now, anyone can be a curator, and any goods or services can be curated. Third, the demands for convenience helped curation services to combine with subscription economy, developing the curation model with higher sustainability.
Everyone can be a curator now
Along with these customer needs to save time and energy, the domain of curation has widened; curation is not a exclusive domain for journalists or brand shops anymore.
First, the provider has decentralized. Anyone or any companies can be a curator, as there are lots of platforms to use. We can make and share our voices to the public through many channels at any time.
Many B2C companies provide recommended lists based on our behaviors or through AI algorithms. With the help of AI, the content curation is getting more sophisticated and personalized. Sometimes, when Spotify or YouTube recommend the audio or video clips, they seem to know me better than I do.
Content curation is becoming ubiquitous
Supplies surge where the demands are strong. The ecommerce market is getting more competitive. Many companies have introduced curation services. Also, similar curation services have emerged in many areas – news, books, e-mails, music, clips, photos, places, meal kits, job searches, clothes, health items, stationery goods and all the objects you consume.
Now, curation services have moved beyond the tangible goods to intangible services. Medical services that perfectly suits to my health conditions, cloud gaming services, leisure sports services…the list goes on ad on. They are still evolving in all kinds of areas, and it won’t be long until we find the curation services all over the place to save our time for scavenging.
Curation met subscription economy
Trusted curation services often become workable financial model. Subscription models are representative – monthly flower subscription, monthly book delivery, weekly wine subscription… Many curated services has settled with subscription. You might subscribe more than a couple of services.
Some companies send you the boxes filled with curated products. They are automatically delivered to your door. Or some companies provide you the movies or TV programs of your favorite genre. They simplify the selecting and buying process while meeting personal preferences. The beauty of simplification; the service provider “takes care of” all the hassle, and we just enjoy!
Still, we need to make choices
Instead of spending time to search for something useful, now we often spend time to choose which curated services to use. Now, even new subscription brokerage platforms appeared, which allow you to see at a glance various subscription services at once. Still, we need to make a choice to select the right one among selections.
It has been a few years since content curation and subscription economy became a new normal. And this new paradigm of consumption will last for years. We, consumers, will open our wallets as long as the curation services reduce the burden from the buying process.
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