The definition of 'VALUE' in the New Attention World and its Paradigm Shift
Content - including its ownership, aggregation and monetization - is one of the most valuable goods traded in today's attention economy.
While surfing through the content provided on this platform, the following question has arised:
Where does the value come from and is it limited?
"Content itself is what the end-user derives value from. (...) The medium, however, provides little to no value to the end-user without the information and experiences that make up the content." Source
The user derives value from the content.
Hence, if there was no user then there wouldn't be any value.
So the content must be perceived and evaluated to become "something".
That reminds me of the "Theory of perception" according to that "the senses are the gatekeepers of the wonderful factory of the mind."
If the reader is the one that defines the value, how can I - as an author - even measure it?
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
"Most people understand that content has value. Big value. They just can't prove or measure the ROI. And, therefore, they have no concept of how much content is worth." Source
To understand value in today's attention economy we probably should know how value was defined back in time.
That guy said "products of value" need to have the following three characteristics:
- Excludability: The seller can exclude you from owning or using the product unless you pay for it.
- Rivalry: It's more expensive for two people to use the product than for one (two pairs of jeans have a higher value than only one of them).
- Transparency: Consumers can see what they get before buying a product.
Now try to apply these characteristics on steemit.
You can't? Welcome to the new world!
Here's the paradigm shift:
- Excludability: Nobody is excluded from the new attention world (no barriers).
- Rivalry: If you share content online with your friends, they don't necessarily have to pay for it.
- Transparency: Once you've consumed a piece of content, you won't need to buy it. Transparency is all over since the free access to information is an evidence now.
Can you see the difference?
steemit is the first social network in the new world where value is created through constant incentivation; rise in value is the core of the network's eco-system.
The network does not only encourage people to "produce" content (new sources of value) but also to evaluate it (new value).
Content production, aggregation, ownership, evaluation and monetization are inseparable elements in the growth process.
Welcome to the new world. Feels good to be part of it.
Best
T.
I agree, however it depends. Value is sometimes unique to an individual and group.
That's a solid point. The value is created at the end of the chain and not merely depending on rational aspects.
Thanks for taking the time to comment my article.
Best
T.
you are welcome, and thanks for the post, keep steeming-more sucess
Followed you from thl
Hey @nedspeaks! Thanks for the follow. What does 'thl' stand for?
Hi @tomtrader! I just accidentally ran into this article surfing through the https://steemit.com/created page. Great read! I resteemed it hoping that it will find a wider audience :-)
Have a steemy weekend!
Hi @surfermarly! A "steemy" weekend... seems that this platform is even able to create a new language. Fantastic! Thanks for your kindness and the reward.
Best
T.
You made some nice valuable content with this post! 😉 Nicely written + I like the fact that you added your sources in the post, something I miss with a lot of posts on this platform! 👌
Thank you @skririm! I swear that I already replied to your comment but it magically disappeared. Seems that the system is not very stable still.
Plagiarism is not my style, so I appreciate that you specifically mentioned that point (:
Best
T.
Knowledge is a commodity now, so we are valued more based on personality (i.e. do people like you, see you as a "friend" / enjoy your posts on a regular basis because they like who you are) + network (either you have a valuable network which makes you interesting, or you ARE a valuable person to be networked with)
Especially with AI and robots taking over, I think social reputation and "wealth" will be more and more valuable going forward.
Hi @heymattsokol! Great comment, very valuable adding. Thank you!
The social aspect replaces the mere information (knowledge). That leads to an increased "social pressure" and competition through constant comparison.
It'll be definitely interesting to see the impact of AI on that tendency.
Again thanks for taking the time to leave such valuable thoughts here.
Best
T.
This article can definitely be improved upon to give readers more value. The concept of value is extremely subjective and highly dependent on the environmental circumstance of an individual.
Take for example, a group of villagers suffering the aftermath of a flood. The utility of the information on where to find the nearest aid, food, shelter, and water is definitely higher than a video content of Kim K. Similarly, you can apply the exact logic various scenarios.
Only by producing content that is targeted to the right group of people will there be value creation.
Great content, and I hope you can dig further into the topic.
Thank you very much for taking the time to comment on my article @dali.soh.
You are absolutely right. The concept of value is subjective. That's actually what I tried to say when I wrote
Obviously, we produce content to fulfill the expectations of a certain target group unless we are writers for the simple fact that we find pleasure in writing. But then we wouldn't be on steemit trying to monetize our thoughts.
I'm not a huge fan of the Kardashian family either. But millions of people consider their stories somehow "valuable". At least they dedicate a lot of time to follow their doings.
Maybe we shouldn't judge but just accept that there are different interpretations of value - such as there are billions of different minds on this planet.
I don't know if I will "dig further into this specific topic", but I'll be trying to produce content that I would like to read by myself. That's how I personally measure "value".
Have a great one.
Best
T.
Wow! Good. Resteemed
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