There is an undercurrent of backlash brewing in our world.\u00a0 Backlash against the quickening pace of disposable content.<\/p>\n
Things are concurrently getting louder and faster as we move closer to a true real-time web.\u00a0 And with it, there are those who churn out content because they feel like they must keep pace with every insignificant occurrence at the impossible velocity of real-time.\u00a0 While yes, the real-time web is useful and certainly has a function \u2013 what many treat it as is a disposable content environment.<\/p>\n
And, while it\u2019s fun to play around in, experiment, and draw subscribers to your own site \u2013 you must go counter to this if you want to develop a popular, yet sustainable web destination.\u00a0 Sustainable in the sense of not needing to be on the infinite treadmill to survive.<\/p>\n
Your opportunity from the perspective of a content producer is to ignore the ever-quickening pace of the real-time web and resist the urge to sacrifice quality for the sake of quantity.\u00a0 As bite-sized content grows in popularity the demand for deeper content actually goes up since it becomes a more scarce resource.\u00a0 Not everyone needs or wants their content to be reduced to soundbites.\u00a0 Nor should you do that if you want to attract an audience with a deep interest in your subject matter.\u00a0 Those with a true interest want thoughtful material.\u00a0 And do you really want to attract anyone else?<\/p>\n
Think about the subject you know most intimately or are most passionate about \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter if it is marketing.\u00a0 It could be something like gardening or music or Russian literature.\u00a0 If you\u2019re truly interested in that subject \u2013 the disposable, shallow stuff doesn\u2019t really have much meaning to you and can actually turn you off.\u00a0 But deep, careful thinking on the subject will prove unmissable.\u00a0 I know it\u2019s like that for me with things like marketing and music which I\u2019m passionate about \u2013 I skip it if it\u2019s not a carefully written piece.\u00a0 On the other hand, if it is from a writer whose thinking I trust, before I even click, I know I\u2019m going to soak up every word because they\u2019re a proven source.<\/p>\n
True influence\/authority are not products of speed, but of making each communication significant.\u00a0 They are also key elements for businesses, bloggers and marketers in a world drowning in information.\u00a0 Here\u2019s why:\u00a0 each day, in every niche, there is fierce competition for attention.\u00a0 While there are increasing numbers creating greater amounts of content in various channels and platforms competing for fleeting attention spans, many view the landscape with the philosophy that more is better.\u00a0 If you think like that \u2013 you\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n
The coming backlash is against the noise.\u00a0 The shiny new tools are fun, and people subscribe to new content streams and users in a carefree manner as they join new networks, connect with new people and see the excitement surrounding them.\u00a0 Yet attention does not scale \u2013 and slowly every user will realize it is not about getting every new thing right now and collecting sheer numbers, it is about finding and connecting with what is meaningful to them.<\/p>\n
My observation is that the real-time web, while fast paced, is also self-correcting and long-term will reward the best content, not simply the fastest\/newest.\u00a0 And, while the early adopter crowd might have you believe longer-format content is dead\/dying, I look at the amount of time people spend on quality, niche-focused sites with high degrees of trust and would say they are wrong.\u00a0 Those who flock to things with short attention spans were probably never going to interact with deeper content anyway.<\/p>\n
To sum up, if you are communicating purely for the sake of adding something, but without significance, you are cheapening future messages because you will be viewed as publishing for the sake of publishing not because you actually have something to say.\u00a0 The art of holding back is a difficult skill to learn, but if your goals are to be seen as an ultra-high source of signal, you must.\u00a0 In time, this will pay off as you will be trusted, and when you do have something to say, it will resonate that much stronger.<\/p>\n
Some additional thoughts for:<\/p>\n
Bloggers:\u00a0<\/strong>obvious statement of the year:\u00a0 blogs are no longer the shiny new thing.\u00a0 Guess what:\u00a0 this is great news!\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Blogging has gone mainstream, and the news couldn\u2019t be better for those producing great content on their blogs.\u00a0 The platform is maturing, and with maturity means a fading into the background.\u00a0 We don\u2019t really talk about email and how innovative it is anymore do we?\u00a0 Not really, it has sort of become invisible \u2013 but it is still the largest and most important social network on the web (yes, email is a social network).\u00a0 As Clay Shirky sagely notes, \u201cit is only when things become invisible do they become interesting.\u201d\u00a0 With the cheap and fast messages going into Twitter, trusted blogs are being viewed as that much more authoritative.\u00a0 And, a secret of microblogging is that so much of it is made up of linking to longer-format content like blogs.<\/p>\n Marketers:\u00a0<\/strong>being louder is not the answer, being more significant is.\u00a0 If every communication you put out has significance, you\u2019ll be seen as a source of signal in a world otherwise drowning in noise.\u00a0 Apple has the ear of the tech and business world when they put out news for the simple reason that for so long, they only took the time to communicate significant things.\u00a0 Funny thing about Apple \u2013 the media (the blogosphere included) now make a big deal out of everything, even little things, simply because they\u2019ve been trained to for this brand.\u00a0 Apple didn\u2019t get to that point initially by drowning the world in their messages.<\/p>\n Businesses:\u00a0<\/strong>don\u2019t drink the kool-aid.\u00a0 Think carefully about what you want to draw attention to and attempt to bring center stage.\u00a0 Realize there are essentially infinite channels and infinite choices of where consumers are going to get their information\/entertainment, and you just don\u2019t have enough advertising dollars to interrupt everyone with your advertising messages any longer.\u00a0 But, if you are careful and real with what you decide to bring to market and continue to put out the right products\/services with the right messages, you can build anticipation for what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is an undercurrent of backlash brewing in our world.\u00a0 Backlash against the quickening pace of disposable content. Things are … <\/p>\n