You have a platform and you are a publisher. This is a topic we don’t talk much about on this site but we’ve covered in detail on our main site at YouBrandInc.com.
There is a really good post from MoviePilot.com Platform or Publisher? Call it whatever you want. But its the future of media that is introspective and covers some really good background. First a little ground work that will help us dive a little deeper:
Platform models were content-, and content creator-agnostic. They were all about the means of production of content. Not about the content itself. Every user had the same access and means to create and publish content. The audience alone then decided what rised to the top, supported and amplified by more or less clever algorithms. The curation, the agenda setting, the policing was all done by the audience at large - with their behavior and their feedback. They did not pay for content creation but for technology. And they usually did not feel responsible for bad content or copyright infringements.
Pure Publisher models in contrast were not at all content or content creator-agnostic. Access and means to create and publish content were limited to staff editors or freelancers. The audience had very limited direct influence on the content. The curation, the agenda setting, the policing was all done by the publisher’s staff and not by the audience and algorithms. Pure publishers drew a clear line between content consumers and content creators. They paid for content creation, (often too) less for technology. And they not only felt but were responsible for bad content or copyright infringements.
The point made (and one we’ll continue here) is the platform vs publisher model is quickly becoming out dated. Chalk this up to technology, the changing digitial landscape, and tons of other factors, the bottom line is it doesn’t matter.
You are a publisher. If you are a publisher you have a platform (well if you don’t you should). Your platform should start at a place you can monetize but that platform also extends to the social realm. Still no matter how you look at it you are still a publisher.
They end with a point that is important to take to hear (emphasis added):
The predominant challenge in the content and media industry now is not to enable everybody to create content anymore. That problem is solved. The main challenge now is to help relevant content to rise to the top. In a meaningful, pluralistic and diverse way. And that goal will not be achieved by a platform nor a publisher model alone. To achieve that goal we will need the best of both worlds.
As a publisher you’re creating content. But you’re also faced with the challenge of helping stellar content (the good content) rise to the top. This is where you employ curation (both on a platform you own and a control and in other platforms where you can gain reach).
If you want a good place to start click the article above and read to the end. MoviePilot provides a good call to arms on how they want to innovate towards the future.
