Stock and Flow →
Robin Sloan knocks the ball out of the park with this overview on online media today:
Flow is the feed. It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that remind people that you exist.and:
Stock is the durable stuff. It’s the content you produce that’s as interesting in two months (or two years) as it is today. It’s what people discover via search. It’s what spreads slowly but surely, building fans over time.Not only does he do a great job of defining the different types of content or sharing that we can all do, but he poignantly illustrates the danger of focusing too much on the “flow”:
I feel like flow is ascendant these days, for obvious reasons—but we neglect stock at our own peril. I mean that both in terms of the health of an audience and, like, the health of a soul. Flow is a treadmill, and you can’t spend all of your time running on the tread mill. Well, you can. But then one day you’ll get off and look around and go: Oh man. I’ve got nothing here.Wow — well said. He goes on to discuss how even those who focus only on stock simply have others to do the flow for them. A must read, with a great challenge for all of us to produce with balance in 2010.
[ via Frank Chimero ]
