Is content curation eclipsing content creation?

When TV arrived in our lives, it was a passive medium with a strict schedule on only a few channels. As cable and satellite TV emerged, the number of channels exploded as a select number companies instantly became curators of this landslide of content.

As television and the internet evolved, so did user choice, with the addition of services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and the content behemoth that is YouTube. A mecca for user-generated and branded content, by 2025 it’s predicted that half of the under 30 viewers will not subscribe to a PayTV service – depending solely on their favourite YouTubers for free content.

The growth of content curation

Choice, something online users are not short of. In a single day, there are 867,000,000 tweets, 576,000 hours of YouTube content uploaded and 30,000,000 active Twitch users. From Netflix to Disney+, YouTube to TikTok, the average user is bombarded with millions of bits of content online, each day.

With all this choice and only 24 hours in a day, it’s increasingly difficult for users to navigate through this sea of content to find their favourite personalities, tv programmes or artists. As COVID-19 came to an end and people around the world are enjoying their freedom with more enthusiasm, the gap between content produced and content consumed becomes wider by the minute. The real scarcity isn’t content anymore. It’s attention.

The rise of ‘reacts’ channels, or second channels focusing on games, videos or viral content has also seen a sharp rise over the last decade. Low cost and with little creative process needed; these channels have become an outlet for large YouTube personalities to maintain a steady stream of content. In 2022 alone, SidemenReacts has released 200 reaction videos, racking up over 348 million views in comparison to the 326 million views on the main Sidemen channel.

Across the Atlantic, YouTube sensation Mr Beast seems to have noticed a similar pattern to the Sidemen and is riding the wave of content curation over content creation. In quarter one of 2023, the 25 reaction videos on the channel Beast Reacts amassed 486 million views, in comparison to 452 million views over 6 videos on the main channel. In both cases, top YouTubers are seeing how content curation can be a quick win to more views and raised visibility.

The return-on-investment equations are clear. Factoring in recording, editing, wages for talent and equipment, a simple reaction video would cost a YouTuber less than $5000. A mere $125,000 investment has raked in 486,713,483 views, totalling a whopping 3893 views per dollar spent. Donaldson’s main channel, however, only gains roughly 75 views to the dollar.

Twitch also turns to curation over creation to meet viewer expectations. Users can use what’s called ‘Host mode’, giving broadcasters the ability to host another channel’s live broadcast on their own channel. If a streamer isn’t free to broadcast live but still wants to serve their audience with approved content, they can activate the ‘Auto Host’ feature – letting the channel automatically host a list of pre-approved content to their audience. A similar trend on TikTok, is the ‘stitch’ tool which allows users to combine another video on TikTok with their own – essentially another form of reaction video.

In a cultural cycle, these curation trends have landed back on television. Gogglebox, the TV show where viewers can watch families who are watching TV, is essentially a prime time reaction video, one that has around 4 million weekly viewers.

In the creation economy, channel owners will post 1-2 pieces of content per week, maintaining their audience’s attention for around 10—15 minutes each time. They have limited access to their audience, so every second of attention counts. Curating content with a theme of virality can dramatically build an audience, add value to channel owners and subsidise more creative, irregular content. It serves users time efficiency and community conformity, while creators are become vertical-specific search engines for a breadth of condensed content via their favourite YouTuber. In short, it’s a cheap and easy to keeps viewers happy. The time, expense and effort are vastly diminished, resulting in content volume and audience’s attention increasing – allowing for greater influence in audience behaviour and more meaningful access for sponsoring brands.