How does content curation differ from blogging

Recently there has been a flurry of article promoting content curation.

As it is with anything to do with the Internet, the big names have lent their voice to the chorus. Some of them have gone so far to declare that the content curator’s job is the next big thing in social media jobs.

Well I tend to agree with them that readers need someone to curate and present content. However, where I join issue with them is their assumption that what they are promoting is new.


To understand what I am talking about, you have to understand what content curation is all about.

“Curation comes up when search stops working,” says author and NYU Professor Clay Shirky. But it’s more than a human-powered filter. “Curation comes up when people realize that it isn’t just about information seeking; it’s also about synchronizing a community.”

Does this definition appear similar to what you and I are doing nurture a community through blogging. Now blogging is nothing but curating content. Typically, most bloggers read, assimilate and link to content that they believe will be useful to their readers.

So where is the need to talk about content curation as if it is unique and why all this sudden interest in demarcating content curation and content aggregation?

A close look at the underlying message will reveal that they are not promoting content curation but the automation of content curation.

Now I leave it to you to wonder why these people are promoting it.