increasingly the names of close family members, are now just filled with long strings of random ASCII characters. MY OWN PRIVATE METADATA HOLE Content – the stuff we devise to fill platforms – is our attempt at creating the world we’re living in. Through storytelling, we invent new people, places and situations. And to make sense out of this constructed reality, assembled from endless digital files, we give these building blocks metadata. We need names, places, times, conditions, forms and functions. Completed content requires its own sets of metadata to make itself available to digital platforms and human viewers. It’s an essential feature of any manufacturing and distribution process. Plus, we all have a personal schema. In my internal system, dogs might come with fields that categorise fluffiness or intelligence, whereas your personal dog database – depending on experiences – might prioritise allergenicity or likeliness to attack. If we try and compare our canine data sets, we’re going to run into issues very quickly. And if we have to integrate those data sets – perhaps we’re getting married – we may be in real trouble. Realistically, we have very few metadata fields in common. Some could be fudged: my intelligence rating might integrate with your assessment of cunning, but even that takes a lot of work; plus, we are going to have to do this entire thing field by field – and it’s driving me crazy – I’m going to punch someone... let’s just call the whole thing off! This argument is a hypothetical scenario. ‘Likes dogs? (Y/N)’ is one of FEED ’s initial data points for screening human associates – if you’re not into them, consider our dealings swiftly concluded! Yet, it points to a challenge we have in the media sector.
ONE OF LIFE’S GREATEST IRONIES IS THAT STRUCTURE CAN LIMIT POSSIBILITIES, WHILE RESTRAINTS CAN INSPIRE CREATIVITY
IT’S ALL ABOUT STRUCTURE A business is filled with individual humans (except those in the British Virgin Islands or Panama, that have offices like post office boxes). Each of these humans has their own private parameters, and these are often used as the basis for the metadata the business uses. A business structure or framework – the schema used to catalogue and track its jobs, footage, clients and distribution – is often cobbled together organically over time by individuals. Many of them work in silos, unaware of what other people within their business actually need. Without the metadata structure, the entire system can collapse. One of life’s great ironies is that structure can limit possibilities, while restraints may inspire greater creativity and innovation. A muddy metadata infrastructure simply makes communication difficult. Metadata cannot be something that is simply ‘handed off to the IT team.’ When you’re creating a metadata structure, you’re creating the ultimate workflow for your business. On top of that, you’re building a foundation that will continue to be constructed over time. Your business structure needs to be designed, and established as a crucial part of any business vision.
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