I have been thinking a lot about life of
content. A few different dichotimies seem to frame
conversations.
Staged vs. Organic: Staged events are one-shot. They need
significant pre-establisehd processes and project management. They
use up a lot of advertising and communication. Organic approaches
are more incremental. They use small layers to build up over time.
Television shows are staged, but they can also evolve over many
episodes, as writers seize onto relationships, or the right
directors are found. Organic content lifecycles stress less
perfection up front, and often more feedback.
Transient vs. Peristent : This refers to the size of the window of
availability, and/or the timeliness of the material. Even these can
be fuzzy. DVDs should be totally persistant, for example, but
advertising and shelf-issues make them somewhat more transient.
Also, as with movies, there is a perceived success (being number
one on the charts) that drives more success, and more of a staged
content approach. DVDs can also make movies a bit more incremental,
with multiple versions available. Computer games can also have
various versions, and can also be patched on the fly.
Controlled vs. Community: Is their one-voice shapping this or
multiple? Mods for computer games can subvert a very controlled
piece of content. From a formal learning perspective, I always ask,
how can I get the training group out of the way? How can the
community generate the content, and how can the training group help
that?
Is there a "so what" for these lenses? I think so. One is to
recognize our own biases, and accept that these biases might be
interfering with coversations with sponsors. The other is to
recognize the current trends that are pushing towards incremental,
persistant, and community, and selectively embrace some of this
approach, and challenge others.