The value for content is more complex than just context...

This is a follow up to a discussion about Identity with my friend and fellow professional Nicky Hickman about our favourite topics of identity and where does value originate.  We were doing the rounds on the value of social media data, signals, pulses, waves and I got thinking about this slightly dated 2005 Mobile Web 2.0 diagram.  Ajit and I wrote about the changing nature of who was creating content and how there was a shift in the balance of power from professional to consumer, something the editor of our book did not agree at the time with but that is another story!    The chart shows how events accumulate different value depending on time and how it is consumed.

Why go back and rethink.... One of the four value points was "new" but this was about new content (value based on consumption) and not about social content (the continual stream of personal data) which is about signals that create spikes, pulses, waves and trends.  There is a realisation now that your social data (data about you, your location, your movements, your family, your preferences, your recommendations etc) has more value than your content but also this data (signals, spikes, pulses, waves and trends) are what make you unique and together form an identity. 

The question however is who is the best signal generator? And who is the best provider of analysis of your data to produce value?