Content is dead. Long live content.
Just because content is king doesn't mean we have to bow down
“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.” - Bill Gates, Content is King (1996)
I guess you don’t become worth $100 Billion dollars without being right about a few things.
If you’ve worked in content marketing, you’ve probably come across Bill Gates’ 1996 essay “Content is King.” Bill echoed Sumner Redstone, the founding mogul of Viacom, who famously (and ruthlessly) built an empire around the belief that whoever held the rights to the actual programming content held all the power. He didn’t care how technology changed distribution. If you had the content, you had it all.
con·tent ˈkän-ˌtent
: something contained —usually used in plural
Most people today use the term content to mean creative output. But the icky thing about content is that it makes the container of the content the star of the show.
“Content is king, but distribution is Queen… and she wears the pants”
- Jonathan Perelman
Content may reign, but the distributors are the ones who really hold the reins.
The beast of distribution is always hungry.
Social media content feeds the algorithm.
Website content feeds the SEO machine.
TV shows and movies fill the streaming catalogs.
Podcasts keep the earbuds in.
All of it exists to sell ads, win subscribers, and pad the stats that make investors salivate.
In one sense, it’s great for creative people. There’s no shortage of organizations looking for young people “to help manage their socials” or opportunities for prospective influencers to share their work.
User generated content has been a boon for social media networks. They need eyeballs and thumb clicks to entice advertisers and woo investors. But because of the creator economy we’ve found ourselves in, Meta doesn’t have to be like Netflix, Apple TV or Disney and spend billions of dollars on content production for Instagram to fill their content container. They have millions of people ready to do their work for them…for free.
I struggle with this concept of content. I do work in advertising, so I get it.
But I’m also a creative person at heart. And while social media gives me a space to share and connect with people over creative ideas, it’s also very tempting to get caught up in the content trap. To check the stats. To monetize. To keep feeding the machine for that hit of attention. All of this to drive content and make money instead of just creating for the sake of creating and connecting.
“Content” isn’t going away. And the people making money hand over fist aren’t going to let go of their cash cows quietly. My professional life will always be consumed by content.
But outside of my 9 to 5, I’m going to focus on creative outlets like writing to help me think, learn, and connect.
This is why I endeavor to write.
I’m not going to hit it big.
I’m definitely not going to make money.
I just want to think about the world and my place in it.
Throw my ideas out there and see if anyone else resonates.
Invite conversation and make connections.
If the media moguls make a few cents off my content, so be it.
I’m content being creative for the sake of being creative.