Original Content and Content Curation: Both Add Value

It is not news that media now is shaped by Internet and application trends, just as the telecom business is refashioned by Internet apps.


Consider YouTube, which is reshaping the notion of what "video entertainment" is, or video game experiences, which likewise are seen by some as the future for much of the "movie" business. 


In the communications business, the big change is the ability application providers now have to use any broadband connection to deliver an experience, application or service. 


But all rules of thumb have to be qualified. The conventional wisdom for Internet content is that, to make Google happy, content has to be original. On the other hand, according to David Karp of Tumblr, there are nine content curators for every content creator on his site. How sharing disrupts media


Reblogging, on Tumblr, is so easy that the vast majority of Tumblr sites actually create little or no original content: they just republish content from other people. 


Some might argue that "adds no value." If you think about it, that's not actually true. Busy people always can save time if somebody else is doing a good job sorting through 


Such linking, liking, re-posting, re-tweeting and so forth is a "voting" mechanism, allowing social tools to amplify and point to content people find interesting or useful.


That grows audiences for people who do create original content. The "is it better to create original content or curate it?" argument is misplaced. Both have value, and both create value. 

Tumblr had 14  billion page views in December 2011, up from three billion in 2010.