Somebody on Quora asked:
Writers: how do you feel about the word ‘content’?
I answered:
I’m surprised that this doesn’t seem to have been covered on Quora yet.
The insidious spread of the word ‘content’ to mean all written material has been covered in quiet a few good pieces:
- Don’t Call it Content
- Please, Stop Calling it ‘Content’ | Hacker Noon
- Want To Be An Artist? Stop Calling Yourself A Content Creator.
- Stop Calling it Content Marketing
The etymology actually comes from computers: if you’re designing websites then ‘content’ can meet whatever text fits around the other elements in a page. Think Content Management Systems (CMSs) etc, etc.
Personally, like apparently a few writers, the word ‘content’ has never sat well with me and I try to actively resist describing my own writing in such terms. I think it demeans whatever form of creative expression one applies the name to.
However equally at a certain point one realizes that they are fighting a losing battle. And that’s how I feel about content. If I can find a better alternative description that doesn’t harm my own SEO/SEM then I will use it. But unfortunately it seems to have become well entrenched — and too many (what I would call) writers are happy to describe themselves as ‘content creators’.
