I’m glad I’m doing these public posts about “years of the content creators.” I started doing the research for my current book about a year ago, and it’s good to go back to my Zotero notes, refine tags, and review items to see what I’ve missed.

This post is about the first year I felt stood on its own: 1994.

1994 in "Content Creators"

26 instances of “content creator” (and related) appear this year, making it the first really substantial year of that term. And while what I’m calling “large-scale content creators” appears across these works, the texts that caught my eye seemed to be more related to the contemporary meaning we often use -- individuals making digital media and promoting their work online.

Ratcliffe 1994 is an interesting case – it's about the sale of the magazine they're editing to another company. They make suggestions, including proto-influencer ideas of having authors promote their own work and build relationships:

"Enlist content creators to market their own work. Sharing the revenues from online information provides an impetus to the producers of information -- or their representatives, some sort of "personality jockeys" for the information era -- to get into electronic forums and generate interest in their work."

As Ratcliffe argues, "Interactive media require human interaction, not just query capabilities. Use the networks' communications features to put humanity in automated systems." Later in the article, Ratcliffe argues “Information networks are only the first step in radically personal relationships between people who are engaged in business and pleasure. Networked contacts should set the stage for personal encounters, where ideas and information can be shared and communities of interest can flourish.”

Somogyi caught my eye several times. Their article on Quicktime is about photography is about the ability to make panoramic photographs. It also discusses storing those photographs on CD-ROMs. What’s fascinating is that this about photography, but the term “photographer” does not appear in the article. Rather, the term is "content creator": "content creators [can] easily blend snapshots and rendered scenes to create interactive environments with a 360-degree field of view."

It's ultimately about the software. The Quicktime VR software stitches together a bunch of photos to make “virtual reality.” Perhaps it is at this point that the photographs become “content”? Or at that point when the photographer becomes a “content creator," because the photographer is no longer snapping pictures? But then again, photography is more than just taking the picture – developing them is part of the process.

And Somogyi's "Navigating" article broaches user-generated content as an idea:

"While services will act as the conduits of content, the large multimedia concerns won't be the only creators of content. On the contrary, Delphi's Williams, AOS's Converse and FirstPerson's Rosing all foresee consumers being content creators as well.… Converse was very clear about plans for online publishing and envisions many small content creators proliferating and thriving on EWorld. The tools for EWorld-based publishing would be made available so that it's simple to publish on the new system, he said."

It's also a call for standards to be set:

If an idealistic model of interconnected and cooperating networks will succeed, standards must be declared that define the data that will travel across the Net, from content creator, via the provider, to the consumer. While many of today's networking and data standards are applicable to these new ventures, commercial Darwinism hasn't yet selected all of them. New standards, such as financial transaction protocols, are still in development and are not as mature as existing conventional network data transfer protocols.

Thus, standards and the production of conduits for all content creators – including "consumers" (who we might call "users" now) – need to be set.

Finally, Somogyi’s “the infancy” has a rare consideration of aesthetics, considering how the original “content” might get degraded in quality when it reaches the endpoint, such as a set-top box or video game consoles.

While I focused on these articles, there are other themes that emerge and will be very important in future years: the “information superhighway,” more about standards, the relationship between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, and intellectual property. Stay tuned!

Key Texts

Ratcliffe, Mitch. 1994. “Note from the Editor-in-Chief: Transition Transaction, What’s Your Function? (Effects of Ziff Communications’ Divestiture on Digital Media, Online Services).” Digital Media, July 12.

“Content creators” here refer to all the folks who make various things: stories, art, video. They need to get into forums and interact with people. It sounds like proto-influencer marketing, but of course it is prompted by the publishers, I would imagine.

Somogyi, Stephan. 1994a. “Navigating the Net; Rough Sailing on Interactive Seas. (FirstPerson President Wayne Rosing Discusses Commerce on the Internet) (Speakers at 1994 Digital World Convention in Los Angeles).” Digital Media, July 12.

This is about standards for the emerging internet/digital networks.

Somogyi, Stephan. 1994b. “The Infancy of Authoring: Today’s Tools Are Just Starting to Solve Cross-Platform Problems.” Digital Media, August 8.

This is about set-top boxes as a proliferating platform for content. There is no emerging standard. Some of the video game consoles are becoming cheap enough to be viable.

Somogyi, Stephan. 1994c. “Through the Photograph: Apple’s Reality Capturing Tools; Nothing Virtual about It. (QuickTime VR).” Digital Media, June 8.

This is about the ability to make panoramic photographs. It also discusses storing those photographs on CD-ROMs.