Are You A Curator? (Curate This Book 1)

The title Curator gets used a lot these days, but are you a curator? We’ll explore what it takes to be a Curator, asking question like: Are you a maker? Are you a leader? Do you thrive and explore across media boundaries?

The ideal curator is multi-disciplinary, willing to forage for ideas and wisdom in tweets, Tumblr posts, LinkedIn pages, Flickr images, Slideshare accounts, Facebook posts, G+ Groups and the legion of emerging voices and sources. The tools are ever changing. The nature of the ideas and the shape of their containers is morphing daily. Vine and Instagram videos have empowered a whole new class of creators. Pinterest boards are now part of the curatorial mix. YouTube, Vimeo and Metacafe are the tip of the video iceberg.

What is the future of the editorial function? What are the Legal and Moral questions around Curation? How does curation impact SEO and your sites unique content mix? Can curation coax your community into increased engagement? And how does contextual relevance play a role? And finally - what about Monetization? Can bring in meaningful revenue?

There’s a temptation to think that, in a crowded marketplace of content, you can have more impact by creating break-out content. However, I’d make the argument that whether you’re teaching, entertaining or enhancing your topic, curating content is to your advantage. Why? Being a useful filter makes you a destination rather than a source of content. Helping your audience by being a resource of valuable content makes you more than a voice in the wilderness. By aggregating and curating a wide variety of sources, you become the keeper of the coherent flame, a unique and valuable resource.