As many have noted, Longform writing is dead,
Well, this is unless you are looking to get a job in a company that values their communication and branding, as increasingly, they are looking for applicants to positions that are able to express themselves well in written format to underpin their messaging, both internal and external to their organization.
My wife works in HR and recruitment and is currently looking for opportunities herself and noted that in lots of the position announcements now, they want people who can both do a subject matter expert position, as well as write communication material, including blogs. Corporate messaging for a long time has used social media to advertise and brand, but what they have of course recognized, is what someone like me has known for a long time already - real engagement doesn't come through shallow interaction.
For decades, the world of consumption has increasingly become disposable to the point that we ourselves are a throwaway item. And, with an increasing amount of source options, there is always another content creator from which to consume, another platform, application, product or service to fill the gap. What this means, is "brand loyalty" has weakened heavily, as the cost of change has been reduced, while the diversity of choice has simultaneously increased.
Brand loyalty is one thing in regards to sales of products and services, but it also comes into play in employee engagement, which affects retention and churn. Training employees is an expensive exercise, losing them once trained is even more costly. So, companies are increasingly looking to build their employment brand, where they are the kind of place people want to work. It is a tough goal to accomplish when not only do people want to work, but many are far more emotional instable than the employees of old and get triggered by even the slightest variation in experience or increase in discomfort, even if it is temporary.
They have of course realized a long time ago that money is not a great motivator, but it is also not a great engager, as while it does attract attention, that attention is subject to be drawn away by more money. Instead, they have to find more creative ways to engage their employees, often looking to build social frameworks that empower and support their people, through the development of a community.
But, because it is open to personality, direct social engagement only goes so far in delivering corporate messaging and values. People engage with personality far more than information, which is why the internal branding of a corporation is shifting to build a corporate persona of some kind, one that an employee wants to be associated with, like a well-liked and socially popular friend.
The company I work for has successfully done this over the years without really knowing it, as they have built an environment that has organically brought people together through various mediums for them to engage with the company itself. Even people who leave the company, do so on good terms and I am yet to hear one of them have a negative word to say about the product or culture of the company, even if they have less than ideal experiences with some of the individuals within from time to time.
Many companies are looking to build user and client communities to engage users of the kind that used to be more for software troubleshooting. But it isn't just the tech companies, it is also the softer areas, where brand story matters and people are interested in the people. This requires more mediums to engage through, than a static advertisement talking about prices and features, it requires engaging and "winning" their hearts and minds.
It ends up being about character development and this requires a narrative that builds over a period of time and gets supported by the informational ecosystem, the communicational environment within which it lives. For depth and continuity, the scenes have to include background actors that still support the storyline, without breaking the attention and focus of the target audience. Otherwise, it is like watching a Victorian period piece film complete with puffy dresses, white wigs and horses, where someone suddenly roles up driving a Tesla 3.
Clear communication requires more than bullet points on a slide deck, it has to have a diverse and rich ecosystem of information collateral that entwines and connects the audience to build a solid foundation for them to stand upon and trust. Even when things change, the trust and loyalty, which is essentially social capital, supports and empowers change management activity and can keep users supportive, even through difficult periods. I think many of know a little bit about this being on Hive for several years.
But, one of the things that many of the companies are finding is, that while they have subject matter experts, the change in creative culture has meant that the pool of people who are also able to deliver valuable and engaging content is a fraction of what it perhaps once was. This might come as a surprise considering how many outlets are available for people to create, but most are used more for consuming and sharing the creations of others, not for users to be creative forces themselves.
But this will change as like in any market environment where value is available, supply and demand drive prices and increasing value on these skills will increase the supply of these skills. As more positions open up, the average quality of the applicant goes down, putting a premium price on applicants who are able to truly deliver an engaging experience for the audience. For medium to large companies, it isn't going to be enough to have one or two or even a small handful of people working on persona collateral, it will require many, as there will be many gateways with diverse skillsets needed.
Longform writing is going to be one of these, as once a content creator can build the continuity of their message, they will also increasingly build their own personality into it, making them a trusted source that the audience can be loyal to. This requires more than writing skills, it also requires being able to present the kind of personal values that the audience can be loyal to - something that marketing rarely succeeds in. What builds loyalty is experience with the product and when it comes to corporate communication, this experience can be improved by helping the user engage more heavily, see more benefits and connect with different aspects of the company itself through what becomes an endless guided tour of interesting topics to think about and perhaps some practical points to employ.
The life of the blogger is evolving, because the "traditional" blog has been crowded out as value has attracted all kinds of people, lowering the overall quality and making the ecosystem of blogs difficult to navigate. Rather than go it alone as a creator, there are increasing opportunities for the skilled to take inhouse positions, whilst still being able to maintain a personal persona. These kinds of people build up informational and emotional connection within and outside the organization, in the same way they build it with their public audiences.
I think it is even possible that in the not too distant future, "inhouse" will be inhouses, as they will be able to provide service to several organizations, as long as they are not in conflict with each other. This is simpler than it seems, as companies are always within an ecosystem of companies themselves, which means they could effectively share resources, with the creator being somewhat of a freelancer that works very closely with communications teams of each.
To close this rather long post, I just want to reiterate that the future of corporate content creation is one that brings back the personality of the individual, but connects that person to the why, what and how of the greater community of the organization. They become an informational facet that represents aspects of the organization that are hard to present as they require time to develop the character for. These people will be heavily sought and the best will be highly valued and because it is a skill that has been largely ignored and takes effort to develop, there is going to be a lot of scarcity in the market place, putting a premium on those who can truly deliver.
This might not have been the original or expected path, but the vision of what it means to be a full-time blogger is shifting, as the value of written communication is increasing. There are going to be many positions surrounding content delivery arriving and while a majority of people might be moving away from the practice and into sole consumption, others are building their future career and ensuring that for a time at least, who they are and what they do is in demand, valuable and not easily thrown away.
Longform will live on.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
They tried to cancel corporate culture through laws and lawsuits and rules and regulations. Corporate Culture does seem to be trying to make a comeback, where the company picnic, or BBQ or New Years party, are not things to be feared by the company, but to be re-embraced.
I hope they succeed with bring Culture back to the corporate world, because that may make the people wake up to what the cancel culture people are trying to do.
Senseless, mindless drivel, in short form, is best served in bulk. Far easier to make billions when thousands create an endless stream of content for millions to consume. And when thousands earn very little for their efforts, those billions become even easier to pocket. For instance, going back in time we have the music industry and their common practice of insisting songs must be between three and five minutes long. This is not because people like their songs to be that long. Some will listen to music nonstop all day. These are three minute long perfected samples of art sandwiched between paid advertisements. Youtube shortform Vines. Millions of views but the creator is paid for the time viewed, not views. Great for Youtube, since they get paid regardless. Shortform attracts short attention but becomes longform as the consumer continues to browse. They spent millions automating the process and still made billions, all while ensuring creators got the smallest piece of the pie. Longform means consumers are paying more attention to the actual content and being exposed to fewer ads in the process. It must be broken up into bits and pieces. Some claim consumers enjoy short form more than long form but the reality is, at the end of the day, the consumer spends the same amount of time consuming. There's just more money and valuable data to be mined in the mindless drivel. That classic clickbait internet top ten list article. Not only is it shortform but the next point or paragraph can only be viewed when clicking 'next', so you can be exposed to the next set of ads. Shit. I'm rambling. Enjoy the wall of text. I don't feel like proofreading.
This is the thing with it. I know parents with teenage children who no longer have the attention span to watcha movie, but can spend 5 hours straight watching 5 minute clips of trash.
Yes.
Keep them saying yes - even though they don't give a shit about what they are saying yes to, all to extract a little more money. The world is a vampire.
Psychologically, there's probably a false sense of accomplishment that goes along with 'finishing' something every few minutes. Little dopamine hit maybe. Cheap thrill. First hit, always awesome. Spend the rest of the day chasing that high, but never getting there. The hopeless addict.
Push Marketing in your face, via newspapers, TV, bill boards is over and done with, many still use these methods, I am in agreement with you, times have changed, those companies not realizing this yet, will soon be knocking on the door.
Pull Marketing, a phrase being pandered around about ten years ago I think is truly starting to reveal itself. Those who have extended their writing skills are able to present the right type of communication companies are looking for, and will soon be sought after.
I would have been overjoyed to see many more comments under a post like this not just upvotes over $40. Actual thought process in what you have written, ideas or seeking guidance as to create a career path for the future. Nadah, none....
Well done Taraz thoughts placed so impeccably, spelling out possibilities for bloggers to consider, I hope more stop and read this content.
!BEER
@tipu curate
I didn't have a name for it, but it sounds like a thing. And yes, it is starting to be seen "mainstream" now, even though it is really just starting.
The autos kick in, the comments generally follow a little behind. I also know that some people bookmark the posts for later, as they don't have the time in the moment they see it.
It takes time for the bandwagon to start rolling, time for people to jump on with the early drivers :)
OK, call me old fashioned, I selectively pick what I wish to consume, then read it all the way through, comment and decide further on how to support content provider.
I really hope the younger generation here in Hive find this type of content to consider, life will become more difficult before it gets better, old nine to five days are almost gone.
Appreciate your thought here, even older bloggers should take a good read, times are changing!
!ENGAGE 30
You are old fashioned.
You are meant to have an algorithm choose for you and then while pretending to look at what was chosen, surf Instagram instead, then post on Facebook for likes about how what you have consumed changed your life and how others should definitely consume it too.
;)
Ha ha ha, AI is already doing too much, keeping brain exercise going. Gray matter may appear on top, fighting off grey matter underneath, are we losing?
Yup, loud and proud. I would love to see plugin that works from Hive > Wordpress where you have a "holding cell draft on Wordpress". This will enable you to tweak post slightly to be acceptable to the masses where they can hit like buttons and hearts randomly for more eyeballs, the slight tweak will keep Google happy too....
"Drip feed" longform content, unfortunately the art of reading is a problem, perhaps vlog accompaniment may be required with a lot of pictures. 😌
ENGAGEtokens.Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 37/78) Liquid rewards.
Interesting perspective - I agree with this. My current role in my company requires me to have (God knows why) three managers; a director, CFO, and CEO. All three are relatively new; all three have told me that any email, for example, should only be one sentence in length. Two or more sentences will not be read. This is fun to deal with as these three people allegedly need critical information to run their company and are not available for in-person chats as they are either a) in a meeting, b) in another meeting, or c) in their five-bedroom / two bathroom "cabins up north."
The ability to break down a complex set of problems for any organization is an issue in and of itself, but really just one part of the equation; the ability to effectively communicate those findings to a multitude of personalities looking for quick sound bites or one sentence explanations is really the key to the entire equation. And if you can communicate effectively to someone on their pontoon boat taking a HH float around the lake with an email they check on their iPhone is a win in and of itself.
I think you are correct; people who can do this effectively in today's organizations will command a premium. I think it's just getting the right people to see the value in folks exhibiting this asset.
In the company (software) I work for, we create role descriptions for users and ways to identify them in the organization so that they can fill-out the information ecosystem. Some of our clients question why we go to such lengths, but it is all about long-term engagement and loyalty, which benefits us (SaaS model) and the client as they get the benefits of the software the more it is used.
The people in the organizations who are looking for talent aren't HR, they are community builders now. Social media goes corporate.
You are in a very progressive company, I think. It's a good thing given the current economic climate, and how quickly things are evolving from a social structure standpoint mixed with the rapid growth of technology. Plus, your customers are profiting off of the work your group is doing up front, from both an earnings standpoint and a productive/long term partnership that doesn't require fiddling around with new partnerships consistently.
The majority of companies in this area of the world are still stuck in the 1990's (at best?? maybe I'm being too generous lol). Promotions to leadership roles typically are given out as rewards, not a recognition of talent per se. Good old boys, as it were, are moved into these roles continue to enforce a declining mindset regarding new ideas and better ways to enforce a more positive culture and positive relationship with external customers. HR departments just manage the status quo; the good old boys bring in other good old boys who move into additional executive roles. The progressive types with better ideas are generally forced into subordinate roles and have two options : tread the proverbial corporate waters or leave (and the cycle goes on, and on, and on...)
Now I'm wandering a bit here, sorry...but I think you've given me an idea for future blog posts. Oh, and maybe I should start looking for a new job again
tl;dr 😜 Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
!BEER
!ENGAGE
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I barely read it myself ;D
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One of the problems that I just happen to know of that stands between the longform blogger and success is that it generally speaking isn't an hour per day position. It actually takes research and thought.
Some of this we used to get from our local newspaper here. I grew up in a place with a small weekly paper. One of the most trusted voices was the social reporter. The social comings and goings were many and varied from Church functions to Saturday night pinochle games. Her signature line was "A good time was had by all." It obviously had an impact as I remember and even say it 50 years later!
If not answered the bell for corporate employment in a long time. I did do some writing for a couple of companies, and one of them had the idea that your have expressed. The CEO wrote a blog about figuring the volume of a truncated cone and assigned me to write the follow up, the volume of a double truncated cone. Which just happens to describe the shape of the standard American pilsner beer glass.
For no apparent reason, except to judge the effectiveness of the company blog and how many people actually followed it to the end.
Writing, and especially writing legibly has become an endangered species, so like all endangered species it will go through a period of added exposure before it either dies or flourishes.
As a working writer, I struggle with this.
I realize that long-windedness is death, but I also appreciate deep dives, where I can explore a subject with nuance and care.
Fortunately, in this time of short attention spans and shot concentration, an old form is thriving, aphorisms — which I enjoy creating, along with slender poems.
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STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Content creator sounds an easy job these days, but it's sure not...
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When I begin to write, I carry on until I know I am done and I have covered the topic I wanted to cover sufficiently. We have spoken about something along these lines in the past Taraz, I reach a point beyond which I know no-one (almost), will read:
But I am not done.
I know I had an aim when I set out, something I wanted to convey or examine till a natural conclusion was at hand. I could quickly give it a 2 paragraph conclusion and head off to bed but this would not be in keeping with the speed and flow used up to that point, in short, if I did this there would be a dent in my integrity. No one else would see it BUT I would know it was there.
I do not work in the corporate world as far as my writing is concerned, which is probably a good thing as my punctuation errors would give me away fairly quickly. I wholeheartedly wish I had taken onboard the rules of engagement when they were being offered, some 30+ years ago and I could write professionally today.
So although I am not in a corporate content field, I am an avid consumer of content and as the old adage goes 'I know what I like'. Short form content has a place and god knows it certainly has an ever-increasing audience, but it is akin to an appetiser when one is ravenous for the main dish. When one is presenting a uniquely simple idea that has perhaps 3 key points to drum in to the psyche, short form works, although it can certainly feel gimmicky, 'dumbed down' and a symptom of an ever diminishing societal attention span.
There is an organic (or deliberately focussed) evolution of how a corporate entity or it's key drivers are viewed, this can only be done effectively with a sufficient amount of information being communicated over time, with nuance, humanisation and finesse. Without this we get a 2d representation of the entity in a 4d world.
There is no substitute for substance.
'Fabulous analogy alert...'
If the message is not fully understood, it can NEVER be communicated effectively, if is handed between multiple communicators, this can be iffy, every parent views their baby differently and has a slightly different vision of how they want them to grow and develop.
I may have hashed the message with shoddy understanding, ineloquent communication and trademark random wanderings but my real reason for wanting to comment here was your proclamation that brings me some hope:
I certainly bloody hope so.
AI is the rising tide. Engaging, authentic, tailored long form content; where tone reflects the relationship between the parties; that'll be the last to be automated. Might be 5 years or 50, but it's coming.
This isn't Tom Cruise.
Long form is dead? Damn that's where I was going wrong with planning out this ridiculous series with even more ridiculous things to follow from this overly extensive head-universe when what I should have been doing was stupid one shots for lolz (could probably do one-shots that are more thought provoking as well I guess but they're harder and much less appealing to lcd) XD
This wasn't long, was only just barely an essay ;D Good thing we're not in school anymore and you can just say what you want to say without having to unnecessarily pad it out to 2000 words XD
Value of written communication increasing (again) is good, I'll have to see if I can track down any examples that are immediately relevant to my children who all hate writing long things and will probably actively avoid any jobs that require it XD (I sense a potential culture shock for the younger two who are contemplating games and video editing, I did warn them they would have to be able to write treatments and possibly pitches but they don't seem to believe me XD)