Content ( and how is perceived) as competitive advantage in networks ( from individuals to business)

The importance of the platform  model in business today in order to enable creation and exchange of value has been gaining traction in different sectors up to the point of becoming one of the main models on which base the  business today

• Wikipedia to create knowledge
• Airbnb to engage in leisure commerce
• Instagram to show off and discuss creations
• Android and Apple stores
• Ebay, Amazon
• .......

This phenomenon is quite well known as platform thinking  and despite its complexity the following slide aims to  highlight how this model is engine an what the key pillars are

Pillars

• Connection or how easily others can plug  into the platform to share and transact
• Gravity or how well the platform attracts participants, both producers and consumers
• Flow or how well the platform fosters the exchange and cocreation of value

Network effect as the engine that drives this business model 

• Connection: Ability to "plug-and-paly" discover and / or connect with other users
• Content: Created on the network as a new source of competitive advantage but with the focus on content production and nº users who produce
• Curation: Without strong curation, greater content can actually lead to a poorer user experience
• Liquidity:  not just user growth ( number + likelihood of making transactions)

Among all these pillars I would point out the importance of  content (data) created on the network as the new source (value proposition) of competitive advantage.  But  beyond if the question is 

• who produces content?
• who creates value
• Just the platform
• Can users create value from data?

and the multiple  possible  answers 

• the users themselves
• the intelligence of the platform
• third party data
• ....

the inherent concept of this model is that you don’t build technology, you enable interactions, in other words, algorithms are easily replicable, Ecosystems aren’t”.  Despite the apparently easiness of this assessment , It is not negligible the  complexity behind  to put it in place , otherwise all the projects will succeed. 

At this point  is when the following concepts

• actionable content
• enhance user experience
• increase value perception

are gaining relevance to create an ecosystem experience ( once the other pillars are mastered and globally adopted),  without ignoring the following trends about how technology enhance this scenario of exchange and cocreation

This spirit is more identifiable in individuals,  but is being adapted to business with different technologies, approaches and strategies, but I would dare to say with an standardization trend behind. The following graph plots this concept

in order to illustrate how actionable charts & graphs ( Tabloau) interactive sites ( Google), communities ( salesforce and Starbucks),  Platforms ( Nike) , artificial intelligence (IBM) or business making decisions support ( BBVA)  enhance the user experience  by increasing the value perception, becoming a competitive advantage at the time of generating  potential opportunities to developed ecosystems beyond the pure technology.