Nico Flores writes:
... What is missing, in my view, is a better account of what content is, and of the role played be the context in which it is consumed--i.e. of the experience in its entirety. Media companies tend to think in terms of content because that is what they produce or trade in; but audiences, I insist, don't care about content--whether mainstream or user-generated--they care about experiences. Content consumption is part of a larger experience, which is embedded in practices that are social, and in which notions of community and belonging play a key role. ¶ Content is nothing on its own. It only exists as part of conversations -- understood not in the usual 'blogsphere' sense of deliberation, but as shared concerns (not my term), concerns that we must partake in to be part of communities. When I buy a novel I choose it not just because I think I might enjoy it, but also because it is also being read by other people, because it's part of a larger movement that I'm interested in, or because it is relevant to something else I read. Reading is satisfactory only if I bring with me a certain baggage; and reading will add to my baggage, allowing me to appreciate other works and, crucially, to have more of a shared background with people around me. My point is that content--or, more precisely, the transaction of consuming content--is only meaningful as part of a wider conversation that is made up of countless related transactions. ...¶... Read follow-ups by Jeff Jarvis and Todd Mundt.
Link: On Demand Media.
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