On content creators

A rant on so-called content.

I see content creation and the content it produces in a negative light. A friend of mine is a film enjoyer and is studying the art. One time, he told me how he hates the usage of the word content, and I did not need to ask why because the moment it was mentioned, I think I knew his pain.

Content is the catch-all term for internet information. And I mean information in the broad sense, because in the specific sense of the word, information is actually useful or edifying. However, the information of internet content often does not have this quality.

Computers, smartphones, and the internet have opened up the realm of sharing creative works to almost everyone. Some people get into making money off of the attention that people spend consuming the works. In a sense, content represents how creativity has been turned into a commodity in order to harvest the other commodity of attention. In the end, this drives a massive overabundance of low-quality materials being hosted online with the goal of gaining something from the people in the role of consumer.

On the side of the new content creator, this puts pressure on him/her to value the quantity of content produced over the quality, and this can box him/her into low-grade creativity as a career.