Lord of Curation Series: Fiona Milburn

Our Lord of Curation series presents to you some of the great curators on Scoop.it. They are here to share their insights and advice with you.

Fiona Milburn has lived in London, New York and Los Angeles, and is now based in New Zealand where she has her own production company, which specializes in visual effects, transmedia and technology based content for emerging platforms.  Fiona has also worked extensively with international corporations, creating entertainment whilst ensuring that the integrity of their brand is not compromised.

What is curation to you?

I’m sure I think of curation in much the same way as everyone else. I try to find the best and most interesting online content and share it with others. Curation also gives added purpose to all the online reading and link surfing that I love to do. It keeps me creatively and technically current with the nascent world of transmedia storytelling.

I like to curate regularly, and limit the number of items that I share. I find this keeps me focussed on only sharing the best. Here’s a few more of my personal curating guidelines …

I read everything before sharing it. It’s not enough that an article is “on topic”, it also has to have depth and an interesting perspective. I make judgement calls, I don’t just share everything that I find.

I try to mix it up. I generally share news articles, blog posts, and PR announcements. My area of interest is quite broad, so I like to balance generalities with specifics. On some days I may share items around a theme, or particular area within transmedia storytelling. And, I often hold items over if they don’t fit my approach for the day.

I also often add my own perspective to what I’ve shared. I do this by way of comments, which I clearly differentiate from the original author’s words. I don’t have to agree with everything that I share. Sometimes it’s about adding another view point to the general transmedia debate.

What is your best curating secret?

I’m not so sure it’s a curatorial secret … but, I really like making the most of Scoop.it’s visual features. I enjoy choosing how items look on the page. For instance, I like to always have an image accompany my posts, and I also play with position, size and post layout. I’ll often visually change a post several times before I’m happy with it. I also save my most interesting post until last. This is because, with Scoop.it, your last post acts as your lead story, and is the one that all your followers get to see when they check out “What’s new?” within the topics they follow.

How has curation enriched your social media experience?

Curation is a fantastic way of engaging with the international transmedia community. By sharing great blog posts from established practitioners, I not only keep myself abreast of current industry practices, but provide a great source of information for those new to transmedia. And, although my regular readers come for new content, I tag my posts, so that new readers will have a searchable repository on all aspects of transmedia storytelling. I’ve also gotten to know some great fellow curators since joining Scoop.it.

Transmedia is still a very hard concept to get for many people. How would you define it in two words?

Transmedia is currently a much discussed term, with a variety of interpretations, so I’m not surprised that many people find it hard to understand. However, any attempt to define it in two words is probably unwise … but, as I’ve never been one to shrink from a challenge, if I had to give a two word definition, then it would be “immersive storyworlds.”

But, be warned, I could’ve chosen any one of a number of two word combinations, and my fellow transmedia practitioners would undoubtedly give several more. However, I like “immersive storyworlds” best, as these two words capture the idea of “storytelling which engages its audience across multiple platforms”. And, these are my favourite aspects of transmedia.

Our Lord of Curation Series continues next week! Stay tuned!

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