Keeping up with consumers

Keeping up with consumers

SINGAPORE - Content is king.

Well, that's the saying anyway.

The real statement should be, content is king, but kingmakers are actually regular consumers.

The most popular types of content these days - going by the most popular TV shows, blogs and Instagram accounts - centres around good-looking people sharing their lives for public viewing.

So-and-so is wearing this (yes, I am referencing the Outfit Of The Day or OOTD on Instagram - which, by the way, is the fastest growing social media application ), so-and-so is gasp...

Eating pasta! So-and-so is having an argument with her manicurist! So-and-so has dressed her baby in that particular jumper!

Proof of the banal ruling the popularity stakes? One word: Kardashians.

Since the reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians began airing in October 2007, the lives of the Kardashian/Jenner family have been pretty much open for public viewing.

And boy, is this content king.

Not only has it run for eight seasons, there are multiple spin-offs for the sisters (Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York and Khloe & Lamar) and a new spin-off talk show for matriarch Kris Jenner.

And it's not just TV. Reams of newpaper print and plenty of online bytes are devoted to the family. Of the top 10 Instagrammers in the world, four are Kardashians/ Jenners.

Would you be surprised if Kimye's baby girl

North has her reality show before she turns one?

Okay, so it may be an indictment on the collective consciousness that content featuring pretty, yet puerile, people seems to prosper.

Anything too analytical or too hard to understand seems destined to be chucked by the wayside.

While we're here, I blame the Internet for shortening our attention spans, so only the prettiest, the gossipy-est, and the most vulgar gain mindshare.

I worry about what that means for classic literature, real hardhitting analytical pieces, general knowledge and trivia.

I wonder if the makers of the Trivial Pursuit board game (if it still exists in a few years) would have to use references to the Kardashians for anyone to have an ice-cube's chances of winning?

But all this makes me seem curmudgeonly. Hey, I am in the business of content after all.

So I'm going to take a lesson from the Kardashians. I'm going to insist that everyone in the newsroom should look like a supermodel.

Or at least, he or she must perfect that selfie pout.

You know, the one where you hold your mobile phone at arms length above your head so your head appears smaller and your doe-eyes look bigger?

Everyone will post selfies, and outfits of the day.

And oh, we'll have to tweet/Instagram everything we eat. Even if it's the most banal food ever.

After all, who cares if it's puerile, as long as you're pretty, right?


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