Content - including its ownership, aggregation and monetization - is one of the most valuable goods traded in today's attention economy.

While surfing through the content provided on this platform, the following question has arised:

Where does the value come from and is it limited?

"Content itself is what the end-user derives value from. (...) The medium, however, provides little to no value to the end-user without the information and experiences that make up the content." Source

The user derives value from the content.

Hence, if there was no user then there wouldn't be any value.

So the content must be perceived and evaluated to become "something".

That reminds me of the "Theory of perception" according to that "the senses are the gatekeepers of the wonderful factory of the mind."

If the reader is the one that defines the value, how can I - as an author - even measure it?

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

"Most people understand that content has value. Big value. They just can't prove or measure the ROI. And, therefore, they have no concept of how much content is worth." Source

To understand value in today's attention economy we probably should know how value was defined back in time.

Source

That guy said "products of value" need to have the following three characteristics:

Excludability: The seller can exclude you from owning or using the product unless you pay for it.
Rivalry: It's more expensive for two people to use the product than for one (two pairs of jeans have a higher value than only one of them).
Transparency: Consumers can see what they get before buying a product.

Now try to apply these characteristics on steemit.

You can't? Welcome to the new world!

Here's the paradigm shift:

Excludability: Nobody is excluded from the new attention world (no barriers).
Rivalry: If you share content online with your friends, they don't necessarily have to pay for it.
Transparency: Once you've consumed a piece of content, you won't need to buy it. Transparency is all over since the free access to information is an evidence now.

Can you see the difference?

steemit is the first social network in the new world where value is created through constant incentivation; rise in value is the core of the network's eco-system.

The network does not only encourage people to "produce" content (new sources of value) but also to evaluate it (new value).

Content production, aggregation, ownership, evaluation and monetization are inseparable elements in the growth process.

Welcome to the new world. Feels good to be part of it.

Best
T.

Image sources (Pixaby): 1, 2