How to Become the Ultimate Social Curator
Somebody once said that imitation is the best form of flattery. Of course, we usually imagine imitation to be a self-serving act. Social curation on the other hand, is the best kind of imitation. It’s collecting the best of what the internet has to offer and sharing it across our social circles with people who can benefit from it.
While one of the imperatives of being a blogger or marketer is to offer up thoughtful and original content, it’s important to recognize when something you have got to say has already been said. Why else is curation a positive thing? Let’s take a look.
Why Is Curation Important?
Content curation is important for a number of reasons, but the simplest and most important is this: the internet is a big place. Average users need to know that there are certain filters in place to help them sift through the staggering amount of content – a filter that can bring them the best of the best within whatever niche they inhabit.
When somebody is looking for a new restaurant to try, they ask somebody they trust to make a recommendation for them. When they’re looking for advice, how-to guides or just some quality entertainment, they turn to the sites they trust. Of course, earning that trust is just the first step toward becoming a world-class social curator.
What Skills Do You Need?
There’s an argument to be made that if you’ve ever used the internet in any significant way, you’re already a curator. That might be self-aggrandizing for some of us, but it’s true. Most of us have shared links, posted photos and disseminated content that we came across on our own and wanted to share with our friends.
An eye for quality content is extremely important if you want to tackle social curation. You’ll need to imagine what your readers want to read, hear and watch. Part of that task is going to come down to your ability to anticipate their needs. You’ll need to know what they’re going to ask before they ask it.
It means you’ll have to be invested and fully immersed in your particular niche. On the one hand, you can consider yourself a tastemaker, offering up quality content that drives the content consumption habits of your followers. On the other hand, you’ll need to stay ahead of existing trends, offering up timely content that will resonate with your viewers.
How Can You Find Great Content?
Content can be thought of as a sort of trickle-down proposition, where at every level the sheer volume of content is appraised, sifted and shared across all of our very different social circles. What this means is that you need to cast a wide net. Join newsletters, embrace RSS, follow the right people on Twitter and “like” the right pages on Facebook. Half of being a great curator is intuition and the other half is knowing where great content comes from.
A graphic posted to Havahart's Facebook, with an image credit to GoAww.
At this point, it should be noted that curation is not about uncredited theft of content. No matter what you’re curating or where it’s coming from, always give credit where it’s due. Havahart, the brand that makes humane animal traps to relocate groundhogs and other backyard pests, is always very careful to credit their sources on Facebook, indicating with each item they post where the image came from.
You’ll also want to jump on your chance to build that content in a significant way, rather than straight-up imitating or parroting the quality content you find. What does that look like? It’s up to you; if you’ve curated an opinion-based article, honor the original article by posting a counter-argument. In other words, your followers will want to know why you’ve chosen to share someone else’s work with them; be perfectly transparent about your reasons for sharing it, along with any response or rebuttal that you may have.
How Can You Gain a Following?
If you think of social curation as a means to an end, then you’ll be fighting the same battles as any marketer out there: increasing your visibility and growing your following.
When it comes to earning followers, that famous phrase from Field of Dreams is weirdly relevant: “If you build it, [they] will come.” This is true, but it relies on two things: the quality and the quantity of the content you share. If somebody tells you it’s not possible to have both, you’ve been lied to. Post often; if you’ve honed your skills as a curator and kept your ear to the ground for quality content, you’ll probably have more material at your disposal than you’ll know what to do with.
Curation As a Service
Once you get better at it, you might start thinking of social curation as a service for your followers. Of course, you get something out of the deal too by sharing the best of the web with your followers. You’re making sure they’re followers for life.
Images: Popupology, Havahart, Picjumbo
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