Curation definition
Curation refers to the act of selecting, organizing, and presenting content for a specific purpose or audience. In a digital context, curation often involves selecting and organizing digital content, such as text, images, and videos with a goal of presenting it in a way that is meaningful and valuable to a particular audience.
Curation uses:
- Social media platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms select and present personalized feeds of content based on the user’s user preferences, search histories, and social interactions.
- News sites. News sites often identify trending topics and organize articles for their readers either with editors or algorithms and data analysis tools.
- E-commerce sites. E-commerce sites use curation to recommend products to users based on their browsing history, purchase history, or other preferences.
- Streaming platforms: Music and video streaming platforms use algorithms to create personalized playlists and recommendations for their users based on their listening or viewing history, preferences, and social interactions.
Drawbacks of curation:
- Limited diversity. It may prioritize popular or trending content, which can result in a lack of diversity in the content presented to users.
- Bias. Both algorithms and human curators are prone to introducing biases into the selection and presentation of content.
- Limited control. Users have limited control over the content that is presented to them.
- Manipulation. Curation can be exploited in the spread of misinformation and propaganda.
- Quality control. Since quality control is difficult, curation may result in low-quality or irrelevant content.
