SpectatorBytes

In addition to original content, curation is the other way for digital publishers to drive differentiation. As content supply grows on the Web, screening and selecting relevant information for audiences and communities provide significant value. This is a role that current print publications have played for long time. They curated news clips available from newswire services and PR sources. However, in the Web, this activity becomes increasingly critical as consumers become overwhelmed with the amount of content available to them. Leading bloggers have realized this early on and have used it effectively to drive engagement among their communities. Major online publishers such the New York Times and Washington Post have also caught onto this fact and thus are marrying original content with third-party content from the Web.

There are many tools that are emerging help digital publishers make the curation process automated such Sphere, Inform, Loomia. There are also other tools design to help editors curate content easily and quickly such as Magnify.net for video. Digg, Techmeme and Mixx are also examples of leveraging communities of users to curate content.

Curation will continue to increase in importance as communities seek the help of editors (be it one or many) to help them sift through the never-ending amount of content they face today.

Those with an eye or tools to help us find the best articles are most likely to build audiences and create lasting communities. In short, media editors continue to be wanted and needed on the Web.