Cont -entertainment.
The next big thing to hit the tech-savvy generation after infotainment is Contentertainment.
The next big thing to hit the tech-savvy generation after infotainment is Contentertainment.
Contentertainment is nothing but CONTENT + ENTERTAINMENT. Fairly simple to look at, at first glance, but more and more complicated as you get into the thick of things. What really matters is the proportion of the mix. What is bigger in the mix – Content? Or Entertainment? Or both?
Social Media probably started out as pure fun and entertainment. It began as a community of like-minded people ‘online’ who are ‘connected’ not just on the web, but also in thoughts, likes, dislikes, careers, lifestyles and what have you! It was a common platform that helped you share and exchange ideas, thoughts, loves and pet peeves. It helped you ‘laugh’ together and ‘grieve’ together in a world where meeting face-to-face becomes excruciating by the day.
Thus came FaceBook. An online book full of faces whom you shared a good vibe with. Thus was born Twitter; a derivative of ‘ A little bird told me….’; the only difference being that ‘the little bird’ here is ‘you’, the owner of the Twitter page who himself ‘tweets’ like a little bird in little characters (140 only) and tells the world what’s happening in his/her life/world.
While Twitter and Facebook are truly, truly ‘social’ and aim at ‘socializing’/entertaining online, there is
Linked in – the business arm of Social Media, where all business persons connect trying to make a better living out of networking. ‘Content’ thus acquires a more and more deeper meaning in Social Media, while pure fun-based entertainment takes a backseat.
Reading between the lines
Content today has become purposeful with always some ‘message’ to pass along. It is always something that you want to achieve, something to do, some sort of a goal to work on. Even Facebook has become a platform to talk about your ‘achievements’ – the car you purchased, the book you read, the ‘great ad’ you saw, the ‘five star’ property you checked into. It has become a showcase of attitude, of lifestyle, even a hunting ground for head hunters or eager employers; it has become an open book for recruiters/ employers to ‘check out’ a person’s personality from his posts on the wall or his ‘likes’ and see if he is indeed the right ‘fit’ for the organization.
“Think, before you tweet”!, seems to have become the buzzword, lest you are misunderstood/misread. Content definitely is on its way up the ladder of Social Media. News is in, so updates are big. Everyone is in a hurry to ‘update’ his wall, post, page etc. Search engines still recognize good content. The crawlies (spiders) still make a strong case for regularly updated and original content. Even the visuals have to be meta tagged as the crawlers do not ‘catch them’.
Content drives the world wide web. Content drives business online. And even offline. Powerful, original content speaks a lot more than a glamorously made You Tube video. Original ideas and thoughts on Social Media spark a conversation, and even a revolution (read Egypt, Anna Hazare).
Content has the power to change your world, my world, our world. Let’s not underestimate it!
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