Content is something that is contained within a thing. The term is often used to name the product that is in a container or container.
For example: “The bottle is very large and colorful, but the content is scarce”, “The characteristics of the content may differ from those expressed in its description”, “I have to bring my own container and the company gives me the necessary contents ”.
Content as information
Content is also the information that a work or publication presents. In this case, the contents are made up of different data and themes: “This film has violent and sexist content”, “I don’t want my son to read books with adult content”, “Critics praised the beauty of the images, but maintained that the content is poor and predictable ”.
We live in an era in which, more than ever, reign media mass, so the content of your messages has a very large weight in our development. Television and radio have been widely accepted for decades, but today their influence is enhanced by mobile devices and social media, which serve to make sure that the ideas they are trying to sell get into every corner of the world. the city.
The differences with the form
Another use of the concept of content appears in the form / content duality. In different branches of art or expression, a form is understood as the way of presenting or disseminating a message, while the content is the message itself. In other words, the form is the structure and the content is the unit of meaning.
The shape is often associated with aesthetic or sensory appeal, such as a pleasant color combination in a film photograph or a polished rhetoric in a book. The content, on the other hand, is what is said, and not how it is said.
The same message can be presented in different ways, in different ways. This represents a danger for consumers, especially when trying to force the dissemination of violent content on children. Every day we find expressions of speciesism, racism, machismo, homophobia, among other faces that intolerance takes on, but the intention is not always obvious.
The content of advertisements
Some of the most graphic cases of disgusting content covered in an aesthetically acceptable way can be seen in advertisements, especially on television. Take, for example, commercials for household cleaning products: almost without exception, they are aimed at women, at homemakers, making it clear that their role in the world revolves around housekeeping while their husband He goes out to get the money.
Surely, a well-dressed woman, with a pleasant body and in a shiny and spacious house, welcoming her executive and attractive husband does not generate the same impact as the realistic version of the painting, in which frustration is breathed and which is adorned with insults and humiliations. The same is true of advertisements for animal foods, such as milk or meat, when they try to make viewers believe that cows and pigs lead happy lives.
Other uses of the concept
Content is also an adjective that allows to name someone who behaves in moderation or who is protected or controlled : “The captain of the selected team was contained by rival defenders. “
Containment, on an emotional level, occurs when a person feels that they can trust another to share their problems, that they find in them an unfathomable refuge for their fears. Usually we speak of “a shoulder to cry on” to refer to that being that makes us feel content, that welcomes us when we need it most.
