Two days ago, I came across an interesting article by John Battelle redefining publishing and talking about how brands should become publishers in today’s digital media. John discussed the impact of new conversational media on the way brands interact with consumers. I agree with most of the points highlighted in this article especially the notion that brands are shaped by what people say about it online. In an earlier post, I mentioned that today consumers are offered with so many tools and platforms that provide easy ways for them to express and share their thoughts about anything, which includes brands.
Consumers are becoming powerful players in the publishing eco-system. Publishing is becoming more of a collaborative activity between publishers and consumers; this corresponds to what John Battelle was saying in his article about the viral impact of being social and having a powerful voice in social media conversations.
The article also pointed out the fact that publishing is tied by two main aspects; the message (what is being said) and the medium (how that message gets into our minds). In order to successfully create content in today’s digital media, a publisher needs to bring something of value to the consumer and provide this valuable content in the most relevant and convenient mediums in order to facilitate word of mouth, sharing and going viral.
It can be said that publishers are becoming more of community managers; their main responsibility is to facilitate a conversation among various audiences. The nature of their work is not anymore about spoon-feeding information to the consumers but rather collaborating with them to deliver relevant and valuable stories.
How do you define publishing? Let me know in the comments below.
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