Rage, Rage Against The Machine

For years the word “content” and “content creator” has made my skin crawl, pushed me towards nausea and headaches, for the way this shift in language steals what hard work, dedicated effort, sacrifice and talent has developed.

The term groups creative work into a grey mass and puts it at the service of capitalistic ventures. Devised, possibly, by those who don’t understand the need to do this work in the first place. Certainly those who tend to not want to pay for it. The term takes away the human effort, skill and expression that goes into its creation and devalues the work by looking at it through a lens of how much money it produces rather than the work itself.

These are not content creators. These people are writers. Filmmakers. Painters. Musicians. Composers. Journalists. And so many other words that more accurately describe what is truly created. They studied their craft and honed their skills to be able to express what is created.

Content is used to grease other platforms. Content is made to be consumed, not used for nourishment. Content is a throw away comment under a 140 characters. Content is Muzak piped into lobbies. Bland background noise designed to keep people comfortable, to keep using a device and scrolling, to fill space between ads. Content is not about the work itself like art should be – something that gives us nourishment in a way that’s hard to define. A work that takes effort from us to digest but gives us a different light or perspective.

Writing this, I admit, does feel like content. It is an article for my website and the LinkedIn feed, but one written with effort and to present an idea that is not designed to be background while waiting for an elevator.

If you are putting in effort to create something that expresses an idea and something with meaning then it should not be considered content. It should also not inspire that other definition of the word – to accept as adequate despite wanting more or better.

This creation whether it is writing a book, composing an album, making a film, or something else… is human expression. Call it for what it is and don’t devalue your expression. Don’t accept it for adequate when you want more. And we should all want more when it comes to engaging in human expression. 

We need it.