Over the past few weeks, we have been exploring the future of communications. The way we consume content is changing almost as rapidly as the digital landscape itself. These changes are prominent within every new announcement ranging from both platforms and publishers as well as opportunities for more personalised, better mobile-optimised and more accessible content increases.
As we approach the end of the year, we’re witnessing a growth in ‘smarter content’ – tailored not just to its audience but also to the form and function of the device it’s consumed on. This content is set to engage users wherever they are and whatever the device they’re using, with relevant, high quality content experiences.
The convergence of digital media and technology, under way since the dawn of the Internet, will accelerate. Distinctions between old and new media will fade; most media will be digital. Mobile devices, already the preferred media and Internet platform for many people, will continue to proliferate. We may wear them on our bodies or weave them into our clothing.
Some industries, like music and newspapers, have already been through the wringer. While the recording industry showed its first revenue growth last year after a decade of decline, the upheaval in the newspaper business continues, as reflected in the sale of The Washington Post to Jeff Bezos of Amazon, announced this past summer. Will television be next? Until now, it has held up better. TV audiences have fragmented as channels have proliferated, but overall viewer figures and advertising remain strong in much of the world.
The sands are shifting in the world of content, thanks to the continuous evolution of platforms and technology. Facebook has given nine publishers including the Times, the New York Times, National Geographic and BuzzFeed access to Instant Articles and the initial results look amazing. These well-designed, interactive pieces of mobile content are opening up new opportunities for native brand advertising, targeted at specific readerships. Some of the same publishers, namely BuzzFeed and the New York Times, are also working with Apple to improve their mobile content experience. The tech giant has announced it’s ditching the Newsstand app and replacing it with Apple News, a sleek new reader app for iOS9.
Apple is not the only brand to make use of curating and customising content – earlier this year, Snapchat invited brands and publishers to get in on the action with the Discover channels, which provides curated news from partners like Sky News, National Geographic, MTV and Cosmopolitan.
It surely won’t be long now before Snapchat begins producing its own content on Discover, much the way that Spotify and Reddit are looking to produce their own audiovisual content, diversifying their streaming offering to video.
With that being said, here are six digital content “megatrends” we should expect in the future:
- Content distribution models are shifting towards instantaneous, ubiquitous access, often using social networks
- New technologies, big data, and the growth of virtual content are reshaping the creative economy landscape
- The traditional lines between content creators and content consumers are blurring, with consumers playing an increasingly important role in collaborative content creation
- Business models for digital content distribution are changing, with licensing and service-based delivery models replacing traditional sales-based distribution
- Commerce in creative works is increasingly global – but national and regional intellectual property frameworks have yet not caught up with the full range of cross-border content movement enabled by today’s technologies
- Technology is making it easier to modify and redistribute content. The resulting complex chains of “derivative works” provide increased opportunities to capture creativity, but also create challenges to managing copyright.
How do you think this will impact the future of media content and production??
Thank you guys so much for tuning in! COM 6630 has been an experience! I have learned so much for this course, and I cannot wait to share it with the world… Until next time! Peace & blessings to you…
– Myra
thee millennialist 