Social Media Content Curation

Robin Good: If you are a librarian, an information scientist or someone who has been trained to sift through lots of information and to extract valuable insight, you will enjoy reading this article by John Warrier published today on Library Journal. 

 

Mr. Warrier, who is information librarian, has two jobs. The first is as a librarian at a community college. The second as a content curator at Neatorama.com where he "highlights" neat, odd, and fascinating bites of amusement, from the latest breakthroughs across hundreds of topics.

 

In the article he shares his insight and advice about content curation and on what it may take for newbies to break into this field.

 

"...content curators focus on the news needs of particular professions and industries."

 

Professional News Curation Examples

1) The staff of PRDaily.com, for example, provides public relations professionals with the latest and the best news about that industry.

2) DesignBoom.com keeps track of the newest and hottest trends in art and industrial design.

3) BusinessInsider.com highlights news about world markets.

 

Getting Started

You can get started in content curation quite quickly.

 

a) All you need is a social media platform, such as a blog, Twitter feed, open-access Facebook page, or Google+ profile.

b) Find the best content and add new items daily.

c) Focus not on your own interests, but those of your readership.

d) Prove that you can draw readers as a trusted source and keep them coming back for more.

e) Then you should try to secure an internship.

Many content curation firms, such as Mediaite, Gawker and Flavorwire, offer internships that will give you hands-on training in the field. They’ll train you to examine your audience, compile potential sources and pitch your content to the audience in an attention-grabbing way."

 

Full article: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/02/opinion/backtalk/digital-content-curation-is-a-perfect-career-fit-for-librarians-backtalk/ 

 

[Curated by Robin Good]

Via Robin Good