A few weeks ago I attended The Beat Live, a unique and highly interactive forum for travel industry executives to discuss and debate marketplace trends, here in Chicago. Throughout the event, there was great discourse on when, where and how social media should be made part of the travel space. While perspectives differed across participants, the general consensus was that social is a channel we can no longer afford to ignore. But for many, the reasons behind social media’s seemingly meteoric rise in our society are still a mystery, especially amongst professional users.
During one of my conversations, someone asked, “Why do you use Twitter?” Content curation was my initial reply which quickly led to the follow-up question: “What are you curating – opinions, reputation or relationships?” This question gave me pause and I started to smile. Interesting, I thought, what is really behind the tweets and links we share via Twitter and other social networks?
For starters, let me clarify what I mean by “content curation”. According to Dictionary.com the term “curator” refers to a person in charge of a museum or art collection – in other words, a person responsible for finding, selecting and sharing the best of the best from a collection of treasured works with a larger audience who might not otherwise have the opportunity to access them. I see this act of “curation” a natural extension within the social media world, especially Twitter. Now, back to a few of the reasons I see behind some of the great “content curators” I’ve come to know and admire. The first being - opinion.
One simple motive behind all the tweets, re-tweets, status updates, likes, favorites and blog posts – people want to share what they think. Over time, a trust starts to develop between sharers and their audience, which requires an editorial mindset to sustain in my opinion. There is no shortage of opinions being shared online, so how does one tap into their breadth while ensuring quality and credibility are maintained at the same time?
Seek out those who are talking on the subjects you care most about and read their LinkedIn bios, blog posts, podcasts and participate in their TweetChats – are they consistently delivering substantive insights and commentary? Leave a comment or reply – can they engage in a healthy and respectful debate? Eventually, you’ll glean the ones who have depth, experience and knowledge and consistently show up with something new to bring to the conversation. Some great Tweeps in this category are @AaronStrout @jasonbreed @Marc_Meyer @armano @JohnAByrne @AmberCadabra @adamcohen @thebrandbuilder @peterkim just to name a few.
I also think it’s critically important to search out views that are different than your own. The art of curation really starts to kick in when you can weed through converse opinions and extract out a solid takeaway that challenges your own personal thinking. Following others who operate from a different vantage point than your own is key to learning best practices and developing new strategies. I tend to seek and follow people who are in different roles and industries than my own, which can be incredibly helpful in challenging the status quo. Another fine collection of folks that come to mind from my Twitter list include @jsandford @mikemost @jkarpf @cbarger @chimoose @zenaweist @scottmonty @elhoust @brightmatrix @techguerilla and many others.
What do you think? Are the people you follow and connect with online curating opinions which are helping you become better at who you are and what you do?
This is the first of a three-part series. Stay tuned for Part 2 – Reputation.
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