Thing 8: Curation Tools

I was looking forward to familiarising myself with Thing 8 but it has turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.  Firstly, I took a while to figure out what exactly Pinterest is because it requires registration to use.  Please.  I have already created four accounts during this course, at least three of which I have no intention of continuing after Thing 23.  This is in addition to 30 or more accounts I hold with usernames and passwords.  I am getting to the age when remembering my name is difficult if it’s not written on a piece of paper, so having to create yet another account gets a big thumbs down from me.

Having done a bit of research I eventually worked out that Pinterest is basically a photo-sharing website.  What worried me a bit was to discover that it has been under scrutiny a number of times regarding copyright issues (a huge problem for archivists) and that it has made claims that anything you pin to its site belongs to it.  I hasten to add that Pinterest has subsequently modified that claim.  Which is a good thing – imagine pinning some unique image to this site and then finding out that by doing so you have lost your employer’s rights to it!  How to lose your job in one easy move.

Did you know that 83% of Pinterest users are female and that its most popular categories are food and drink, DIY and crafts, women’s apparel, home decor and travel?  This suggests to me that the site is used as a place where one can indulge in hobbies, holiday planning and daydreaming, and where companies and businesses can conveniently target specific interest groups.  Nothing wrong with any of that but I can’t quite see how archives would fit into this environment, particularly since most of our stuff isn't all that visual – there is only so much excitement one can generate with a picture of an eighteenth-century deed.  However pictures of eighteenth-century pirates are a different matter altogether!

I then decided to examine Flipboard but again I didn’t even get off the starting blocks.  This site can be logged into using Facebook or Google but if you try to access it from your PC it loses much of its functionality, which makes sense as it was originally designed for mobile apps.  In fact, Flipboard has only been available on the web since February of this year.  So why didn’t I try it out on my mobile device?  Because mine is a clapped out antique version that makes phone calls, sends text messages, takes photos (if I can work out how) and does nothing else.

Just to be diligent, I explored Jan Holmquist’s Flipboard page to get an idea what it was all about.  Well, it’s kind of like an e-zine with lots of articles to explore.  With the web version, you get a magazine-style homepage with links to articles.  Clicking on the article you want to read takes you to its original web page. That’s it.  If you actually want to reach an audience through social media you will need the mobile app.

Finally, Storify.  I wanted to get my head round this as I have oftentimes heard it mentioned at work and was curious to find out what it’s all about.  Well, it seems to be a glorified Twitter account with embedded photos and video clips but do correct me if I’m wrong!  According to Wikipedia, most Storify users are ‘women between 24 and 35 years of age who have no children and browse the site from work’.

Likely Storify Users

Unlikely Storify Users

What has stopped me on my tracks is how incredibly time consuming curation tools seem to be and how completely they depend on an existing social network through which to spread whatever you are interested in displaying or promoting.  I am also somewhat sceptical about having dozens of different sites doing more or less the same thing when one or two more streamlined ones would make more sense.  Or is it old age talking again?