Curious about content curation but confused by the options out there? Lorene Champelovier explores the best content curation tools
What’s a content curation tool, you ask? It’s something we often hear about but don’t really know why we need it. What would I use it for? What does it even do?
These are just some of the questions that I used to have to. The whole world of content curation seemed alien to me. People would talk about content curation tools and I’d be left wondering, what are they?
Content curation tools are platforms that allow you to store data – kind of like a library or your own personal storage space, except instead of physical objects, you store content. And that content can take several forms: a video, an image, an article, a weblink, a PDF or much more.
Why would I need a content curation tool?
Sometimes, when browsing the web, we come across interesting things – an article, photo, YouTube video or funny tweet – and want to share them with a friend or save it for the future. But where can you save it? Maybe in a file in your browser’s bookmarks? But then, what happens when there’s too many bookmarks in that file and they get disorganised? It might become impossible to know one link from another. You could copy and paste the URL into an email to send to yourself or a friend but you don’t want to end up with a crammed inbox.
In reality, saving a link to something you’d like to keep can be messy and you run the risk of never finding it again. That’s why you need a content curation tool like Wakelet. Thanks to them you can save all the content easily and you’ll be able to find the link you saved in seconds, handily attached to a page summary and an image.
What would I use it for?
That’s the best thing, you can use Wakelet for literally anything!
Some people like to add links to clothes they’re thinking about buying one day, others use it to share cooking recipes or share their opinions on subjects such as artists, football, politics, climate change – the things they really care about. You could use it to store your knitting patterns or to create a great playlist, to host your university research, or even your IKEA wish list.
It doesn’t have to be intellectual, it doesn’t have to be something you want to share with the world, it just has to be something you care about enough to save, whether for personal use or to share with your friends. You could even plan your next holiday with Wakelet – it’s up to you!
What do content curation tools do?
Content curation tools do exactly what you want them to do. They store the things you care about – the links you don’t want to lose – whether they’re for your studies, hobbies, work, or just for fun! And the best thing is that you’ll be able to find that content again in seconds because it’s so easy to organise.
Why is Wakelet the best content curation tool?
Unlike other content curation tools, Wakelet is not only free to use but has no advertising either! It also has an app available on both iOS and Android as well as a browser extension, which makes it super easy to use. It also has a wide range of features to customise your profile page and collections; not only can you add web links, photos and videos but PDFs, Tweets, Instagram posts, notes, podcasts, Spotify playlists and more!
I used to think that I didn’t really need a content curation platform in my life, I thought I had enough social media accounts. But I was completely wrong. Wakelet isn’t a social media platform, you don’t feel pressured to update or to compare yourself to others like Facebook or Instagram, it’s just a great tool to use when I need it.
And honestly, I didn’t realise how much I’d been missing until I signed up. It makes my life so much easier. I use it whenever I research something, whether it’s for planning my wedding, storing my baking recipes or keeping track of my interior decoration ideas. It’s so versatile that I use it for everything I do on the Internet. So, go ahead and give it a try – I promise, you won’t regret it!