Imperfect

synonyms for content

Inspired by Brian's content.

I can sympathize with how using the word "content" in independent virtual spaces can introduce a distasteful Internet marketing context. But before examining potential synonyms, how flexible is the word in terms of what it can describe? "Content" is mostly used as a noun, but I can see it sparingly used as an adjective. Then, there's the loaded "content creation" to describe the activity of creating content. The even more loaded derivative of "content creator", describing people creating content, follows suit.

Since the word "creation" gets lumped in with "content" as above, let's take a look at how it works across parts of speech. "Creation" is the subject, "creating" is the activity, and "creator" is the role. You can see the word choice employed by Veros via examples like "commoditizing those creations" and "You just create whatever you feel like". Even other forms like "creativity" and the "creative process" are used in everyday language. I'd say it's more flexible and malleable than "content" without the negative connotations, particularly those shared by spaces within or adjacent to the blogosphere.

Then again, I use more generic terms like "works" in "pieces" such as sharing remixes smarter. Those being less of a mouthful than "creation" makes them convenient when I don't need alternate forms. While I do use "posts" sparingly to show what I'm focused on, I think non-specific words benefit language addressing a collective unit of possible art forms such as "text", "videos", and "music". In the spirit of the phrasing of "everything is a remix", a remix can bridge toward or step into a new art form altogether. It can be neat to wrap around that space of possibility.

Speaking of art forms, these seem more viable when maximum clarity or differentiation from one another is desired. For example: a post traversing multiple forms of media could benefit from mediums being pointed out per section or mention. Another example could be referring to media besides writing in the context of inherently writing-heavy blog posts. Discerning an input that is a separate medium than its output could necessitate specifying art forms too.

My gut feeling is that choosing words like "content" or its synonyms can be best handled situationally. I can even visualize different virtual spaces being more amenable to certain diction based on in-group connotations. Do you think these assessments solve this conundrum? Could another follow-up like a community poll or map explore our use of language like this further?

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