This is not a life question on your current level of satisfaction, though you are excused if you thought that, considering it is a topic I often write about. However, in the case of this "content" it is all about intonation and the inflection on the word.
kən-ˈtent - to satisfy desires
kän-ˌtent - the topics or matter treated in a written work
In this case, I am am talking about content, like the words between the covers of a book.
Over the years I have had my fair share of writers block - but I m not sure it would qualify as such in comparison to what is experienced by a novelist, as I am a blogger. What this means is that I have more freedom in topic and do not have to focus on keeping a story consistent for 300 odd pages - but, I "have to" (it is not absolutely necessary of course) write daily and this has its own challenges.
There is more to it than a random topic thrown out into the world, although that is what many people seem to think blogging is. Whereas a novelist has many pages to build a story, develop characters and draw a reader into the world they are creating, a blogger has maybe a thousand words, or two thousand at times - at least using the style I have. This sounds like a lot, but it is not - but as I have said many times before - an individual post hasn't much value, it is the body of work that matters.
In some ways, being a successful blogger (I do not consider myself as such, though I am also not a failure) is like writing a book, except the story isn't the book itself, it is about the author - a kind of "meta-story" that winds through all of the content below it. What I mean by this is that, I am always present in what I write, even if the content is not about me at all. So the story that people are engaging with crosses the boundary of posts to connect it all to an overarching personality. With 4400+ articles to my name on Hive, there is a fair bit to connect with and I think it is quite consistent in thread, as even though I do change my opinion, I am still there - my change is part of the content journey.
But as said, sometimes I do have "writer's block" of a kind, but it is more likely a micro form of it. Since I currently average about two posts a day whereas there have been times I have averaged four, it still requires some "effort" to identify what will be interesting to the audience. Interesting is important for perhaps obvious reasons, but when consistently interesting to the point people consistently read, the interest starts to lose focus on the topics themselves and more on the personality above it.
I visualize this like a conversation between friends over a lifetime, where all kinds of topics come up and life changes drastically over time, but the people are connected through the relationship they have forged through shared experiences and conversations. This means that we become invested in the opinions of others regardless of topic, as the interest developed in the relationship overrides the specific interest in the topic.
While a person can read a particular piece of content and find it interesting or not, the body of work develops a frame for all kinds of topics, making conversations of all kinds interesting. For example, there are people on Hive I read who talk across many topics and I find them interesting even though they aren't experts in all of them and I am not interested in all of them. I am far more likely to listen to a topic that bores me, when it is coming from someone I like, than a topic that interests me coming from someone I don't. This is because we are social animals that value relationships.
What this means in regards to content itself is, that finding something interesting to write about is generally pretty easy, as I do not have to please everyone else, I just have to find something that interests me. Of course, this is only possible long term if it also tends to be interesting enough to attract readers who are willing to come back, but it doesn't have to hit the "interest buttons" every time.
When looking at content that is stand alone as an individual piece and there is no prior relationships formed, it has to be acutely interesting to the reader for them to first read and then also engage. However, if that reader comes back for content piece two, the barrier to interest them is a little lower, as they have already accepted the first and are keen to keep building the relationships. After content pieces three, four, ten and a hundred have been consumed, there is that long range body of work across topics as well as interpersonal interactions, building the relationship.
Yet, I still want to have interesting content, which is valuable and usable for my readers in some way. My style is discussion based, where while I am essentially talking to no one, I have individuals in mind as I write, either specific people or a type of person. I hadn't really thought about this before, but it is kind of like a stage actor focusing their attention on a member of the audience, delivering the performance to them, making it more personal and engaging for all.
Relationships are important to me and I spend a lot of time building them in the real world, but I also want to build them online as well and while I can create thousands of interpersonal relationships, I can improve my engagement, by writing for individuals, even if it has a much wider appeal. At the end of the day, "for the masses" isn't that at all, it is to a mass of individuals.
Since we are all interested in different things and have preferences of how we absorb and engage with information, I find it useful to build style into the consistency. For me, the style is not a particular writing style, it is the style of my, a conversationalist who likes to think about the way we behave and interact with our world. While it isn't to everyone's liking, that doesn't matter, as it is the same for all kinds of products and services, where people are able to pick and choose what they buy and use. No one is forced to read my work - it is opt-in.
So, the title of this piece is "Are you content?" because I find people can at times struggle for content itself and it is actually someone who mentioned their struggle to me this morning that inspired this particular article. While it was a passing comment, for me it sat in my mind for a little and I recognized that yes, it is content.
In my opinion, the best content is the stuff that forms organically from conversation, interaction and the observation of the surrounding world and the things that are important to us. The reason is that if it is on someone's mind, if it is happening in our environment, it is likely relevant to more than a single individual who mentions or exhibits it. In this way, it is possible to tap into the potential of thought trends to create content and in so doing, potentially inspire more thought and content.
Content is part of the conversation of our lives and its relevancy depends on what is happening to us at the time. The strangest content I come across on Hive is the type that has no connection to the audience itself - where it is just thrown into the ether in the hope someone will consume it or, vote on it. Most people will not consume content that they are "not in the mood" for, because they are human. It is like choosing a movie to watch, sometimes a comedy is in order, sometimes a drama.
As you can see by the length of this post which is meta content on content itself, many people will not engage with it as they will not be in the mood to read it at the moment and possibly ever. However, someone that does read it who is looking at developing their online profile through the content they produce should be able to find several points that they can consider in relation to their current position and future direction.
For someone just reading for interest's sake however, there are probably still a few points that they will be able to mull over and perhaps see if my opinions on the subject align with their own experiences. This is valuable, as even if they don't engage, we are having an indirect conversation that can change our own understandings of the world or, reinforce what we already believe and know.
Some people see content as a placeholder for votes, which often makes their content quite soulless and less interesting - a high school book report, not something engaging. I see the value people add as a byproduct of producing content that is engaging and while not every voter will do it for this reason, consistency in product delivery of something that can attract attention and interest, will generally see consistent support, as a type of "brand loyalty" comes into play, which are the relationships created and acted upon in each of us as individuals - our preferences for one thing over another.
Content is everywhere and what I find is the people who have the greatest struggle to produce content are those who don't necessarily range widely with the world and tend to stay narrow, not building a lot of relationships. It is not necessarily that these things instigate content creation, but it could be that a more social personality is ably to find and build a wider range of content because they are on more often on the look out for relationships and may be more sensitive to the interests of others as well, as they are wanting a discussion of some kind.
Now, while you got this far (maybe skimming), this might not have been interesting to you in the slightest, yet for me it was a reflective experience that allowed me to recognize some of the processes and strategies I use when creating content - and there are many more workflows not mentioned here as well. Once I can recognize my processes and the conditions I need, I can better design my environment to work for me, which is like investing capital to earn passively, so I don't have to work as hard, meaning, I can work on the parts I enjoy like writing, rather than on other parts like finding.
Again, this is about relationship building where for example, a person looking for a love interest is unlikely to find anyone sitting around watching TV alone. If a person wants to meet new people, they will have to put themselves in an environment that makes it possible to find new people. Content discovery is the same, where if you want to always have something to write about, you have to surround yourself with food for thought. If you think about it, it isn't that difficult - is it?
Look around, you might be content yourself.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
