Digital Content Trends That Will Change the World

Digital content is helping everyday people live healthier, start businesses, and get smarter.

It’s the reason why you can get an Ivy League education no matter where you’re living in the world. It’s the reason why you’re a more informed consumer and why you’ll meet your soulmate.

Just wait and see — it’s these trends that are going to have the biggest impact on the world:

Crowdfunding

Platforms like Kickstarter and Indigogo exist to help business leaders, artists, and technical visionaries raise money outside of traditional venture capital models.

The concept is simple — if you you need money to get a project up and running and can promise some degree of value, your prospective customers and supporters will give you money to build it.

These platforms have value beyond, money however. Each of these businesses are unique and bring with them a highly personalized brand story. Skeptical?

Just look at Roominate — a dollhouse that is designed to help young girls develop an interest in science, math, and tech. At the heart of a project is a personal story of three Stanford graduate students who want to see more women in their field.

Crowdfunding stories and experience make entrepreneurship accessible, real, and personable to anyone and everyone. It’s a content-driven concept that is, in the midst of a national unemployment high, empowering individuals to pursue their dreams and rock at what they do best.

Big Data

Big data is about numbers, right? And massive engineering ventures? And crazy statistical concepts like autoregressive models?

It’s not numbers that are driving big data. It’s storytelling.

Some might argue that a wall exists between content people and math people. They’re two worlds that rarely intersect — but the concept of big data is forcing them to collide.

That’s because the idea behind big data transcends pure numbers. At the heart of big data is a sociological, political, business, or technical story. It’s content that connects data pieces and models into an overarching big picture.

It’s not numbers that are driving big data. It’s storytelling — with content-driven narratives as the heart and soul.

Education

It’s an understatement to say that the United States education system has some serious problems. School districts can barely afford teachers, and high school graduates can barely afford colleges.

Top MBA and law programs can cost well into the six figures, and young adults are disgruntled because they simply can’t afford to advance. And if they do take the plunge, they’re saddled with three decades of debt.

It’s more than a micro-level problem. Expensive education hurts everyone by limiting access to knowledge — it hurts everybody.

Digital content is transforming education at all levels, from elementary school  through higher ed. For instance, Python for Kids is a downloadable book designed to teach programming concepts to kids aged 10 and older.

Platforms like Udacity and Coursera are connecting learners with free classes taught by reputable instructors and universities.

And some people doubt content can change the world?

Image courtesy of ToastyKen/flickr