There are 3 types of content in the world
There are only 3 types of content in the world. And this taxonomy is determined by the type of consumption one engages in. Each type of content correlates with a different interpretation of what attention is.
Hi, Aaron from Postdigitalist here 👋
Welcome to the first edition of "The End of Content". I feel obliged to explain why we've created this newsletter, and what we're searching for that we can't find on our blog.
The least rambly and most valuable explanation I could give stems from how we think of content. See, there are only 3 types of content in the world. And this taxonomy is determined by the type of consumption one engages in. Each type of content correlates with a different interpretation of what attention is.
There are three types of content:
- Reflective content
- Extractivist content
- Dissociative content
Reflective content
Reflective content is high quality and tends to be long-form. It requires sustained attention and sometimes emotional commitment. At this level, as Simone Weil once wrote, "attention is the silent prayer of the soul".
Examples of reflective content include:
- Essays
- Journalistic investigations on socially important topics
- Films
- “Golden Age” television
- Well-researched video essays
Extractivist content
Extractivist content isn’t as insidious as its name might suggest. On the contrary, it’s necessary. Content that falls into this category doesn’t have artistic value per se, but it’s incredibly useful. It includes everything from tutorials to news. It’s the weather report, the value of Bitcoin, app documentation, and a product comparison chart.
Extractivist content isn't necessarily neutral. Most often, its creators have some skin in the game. But it provides information that can be used to take action toward a goal. At this level, attention is an evolutionary achievement and a tool.
Dissociative content
Dissociative content can be insidious or simply banal. It’s the body of material used to relax and lose oneself a little. In excess, it can become alienating. If it’s used to build a world model, it’s highly harmful. If it’s used to pass the time, it oscillates between “harmless fun” and migrane-inducing. This category includes (but is not limited to):
- TikToks about having “black cat energy”
- Celebrity content
- 95% of the Instagram reels my friends send me
At this level, attention is a sort of burden, a surplus of consciousness that must be exhausted like the annual budget in that wonderful The Office skit.
Should B2B brands produce reflective content?
Most of our website's content aims to be of the "extractivist" kind. In short, we want to give succinct answers to common problems that we know our target audience faces. That's why we're investing in interactive resources. Why produce a post to solve a problem that'll be better fixed with a calculator or a comparison chart?
But, when you're selling services or high-end software, the line between "extractivist" and "reflective" content becomes blurry. What if the problem the target audience faces can only be solved through expert insight?
At first sight, it may seem like this question has a very easy and obvious answer: "If the content that's most useful for the audience is insight-driven, simply write insight-driven content." But not so fast.
SEO enters the room
Extractivist, product-led content can be easy to optimize for SEO. But reflective content is not. Often, this content's only viable keywords are zero-volume. And trying to optimize for them jeopardizes the content's quality and value.
Additionally, SEO privileges longer posts that provide concrete answers within a very specific topic. And sometimes, the best insights one can offer for addressing a high-level issue are located at a freak intersection between topics, and come with a list of questions. Sometimes, the best, most insightful writing is packed with anecdotes, and feels "half-cooked". A stark departure from the way we, SEO people, have been taught to write.
Still, content that's driven by anecdotes and new ideas - ideas that are tools for thought, rather than unquestionable mandates -, has never been so valuable. It's great for:
- Starting conversations with both pipeline companies & potential allies.
- Fostering an audience that actually reads your content.
- Humanizing your brand by inviting your audience "to your kitchen".
- Building in public.
Producing this type of content may feel like putting yourself in a position of vulnerability. But that can be both necessary and highly rewarding. In a sea of brands that seem to be born knowing it all, showing that experience and experimentation back you up is a very effective way to connect.
On the other hand, email seems like the best channel for distributing this valuable but unoptimized content. It's one of the last channels that still feels 1-1, it's transversal, and it's trackable.
Either way, sometimes you get the sense that there’s too much content on the internet. Yes – and no. There’s a lot of content, but the vast majority is quite deficient - that alone seems like a good excuse to produce more. The next problems would be filtering and curation.
I had a conversation about this a few weeks ago with the CEO of a startup whose product is an obscene volume of data, curated to the customers' needs. Allow me to quote myself:
"Through email subscriptions, users can curate themselves a custom information flow."
Good primer for the pitch, right?
