Longform links: curation vs. algorithm

Thursdays are all about longform links here at Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s links including a look at the world of code and textiles.
FINANCE

The old financial media regime is dead: social finance is set to take its place. (thealphapages.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
Charlie Ellis in defense of active investing. (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
TweetPocketInstapaper
Ten things learned while writing a book.* (awealthofcommonsense.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
MODERN TRADER Magazine—the essential journal for professional traders and active investors. Special Subscription Offer! (moderntrader.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
LONGFORM LINKX

Inside the Sony ($SNE) hack. (fortune.com)
TweetPocketInstapaperSymbols: $SNE
A profile of the Bloomberg Empire, post-mayorship. (politico.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
Why the rise of green energy should make utilities nervous. (newyorker.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
Why the rate of cardiac deaths are on the decline. (nytimes.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
How Shake Shack ($SHAK) came to lead the 'better burger' movement. (fastcompany.com)
TweetPocketInstapaperSymbols: $SHAK
An interview with Christopher Kimball of Cook's Illustrated. (blog.longreads.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
An excerpt from Mark Vanhoenacker's "Skyfaring: A Journey With a Pilot."* (slate.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
Curation vs. algorithms: which works best when? (stratechery.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
Can reading make you happier? (newyorker.com)
TweetPocketInstapaper
*Link to: Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot and A Wealth of Common Sense: Why Simplicity Trumps Complexity in Any Investment Plan.
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Finance


Charlie Ellis in defense of active investing. (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
Ten things learned while writing a book.* (awealthofcommonsense.com)
MODERN TRADER Magazine—the essential journal for professional traders and active investors. Special Subscription Offer! (moderntrader.com)
Longform linkx

Inside the Sony ($SNE) hack. (fortune.com)Symbols: $SNE
A profile of the Bloomberg Empire, post-mayorship. (politico.com)
Why the rise of green energy should make utilities nervous. (newyorker.com)
Why the rate of cardiac deaths are on the decline. (nytimes.com)
How Shake Shack ($SHAK) came to lead the ‘better burger’ movement. (fastcompany.com)Symbols: $SHAK
An interview with Christopher Kimball of Cook’s Illustrated. (blog.longreads.com)
An excerpt from Mark Vanhoenacker’s “Skyfaring: A Journey With a Pilot.”* (slate.com)
Curation vs. algorithms: which works best when? (stratechery.com)
Can reading make you happier? (newyorker.com)
FULL DETAILS HERE: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abnor...3/oPK7totBqnE/

I’ve got a short definition for you and a long one. Let’s start with the short one.

Content curation is sorting through a large amount of web content to find the best, most meaningful bits and presenting these in an organized, valuable way.

For the slightly longer definition, I’ll paraphrase Mike Kaput’s great analogy on Content Marketing Institute about how curation has evolved to its place of prominence on today’s Internet.

For a long time, our preferred method of consuming content was to visit blogs and websites that provided content specific to a niche or topic. This was the milkman model: We wanted milk, so we asked the milkman to deliver it.

All this is changing. We are now more interested in a Costco model: We want milk—and eggs and cereal and batteries—so we go to one spot to get it all. Content curation could be intended as this one-stop shop for quality content, saving time for others by digging up the good blogs, awesome sites, and killer posts and presenting the best stuff in one place. Sites like Medium—the specific one mentioned in Kaput’s article—fall under this umbrella.

Here’s how Mike Kaput summarizes the story:

At the same time, it is also helpful to note what content curation is not.

Curation is not aggregation.

What’s the difference? I’ll admit it wasn’t plain to me at first. Mark Sherbin explains that the difference is in how the content is collected. Aggregation is algorithmic. Curation is handpicked.

Content aggregation relies on automation, using algorithms to find content.

Content curation features handpicked content, often introduced with a snippet of copy from the curator. Performed correctly, content curation can create a big value addition.

The human element of curation is a huge source of its value. Algorithms can do a great job at surfacing stories that meet certain standards, but there will always be posts that fall through the cracks. Handpicked, human collections can find content that might resonate outside of standard measuring tools, and the end product of a handpicked curation will always be unique.

Amanda DiSilvestro, writing at Search Engine Journal, lists a number of other significant benefits to a good content curation strategy. These benefits include:

You improve your relationship with the sites whose content you share.
You grow your authority on a subject (provided the curation is top-notch).
You add quality content to your site or timeline and create a great resource for others.
You save time from creating content yourself, from scratch.
Examples of where you might use content curation

Content curation can work itself out in a number of different ways. Depending on your marketing focus and content strategy, one of these three curating methods—or multiple methods—could be a fit.

Curate content in a weekly blog post.

You may be familiar with these link roundups. They’re simply posts that collect helpful resources from around the web on a given topic (the very definition of curation). 99u does a short and sweet weekly wrap-up of curated links from their own site and from others.

Tadas Viskanta, Founder and Editor of Abnormal Returns. Author of Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere.

Professional Equities Global Macro Position Trader http://abnormalreturns.com/