Content is something that is contained within a thing . The term is usually used to name the product that is in a container or container.
For example: “The bottle is very large and attractive, 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, mass media reign, which is why the content of their messages has a very great weight in our development. Television and radio have enjoyed wide acceptance for decades, but today their influence is enhanced by mobile devices and social networks, which serve to ensure that the ideas they are trying to sell sneak into every corner of the world. the city.
The differences with the shape
Another use of the concept of content appears in the form/content duality. In different branches of art or expression, form is understood as the way of presenting or disseminating a message, while content is the message itself. In other words, the form is the structure and the content is the unit of meaning.
Form is often associated with aesthetic or sensory appeal, such as a pleasing color scheme in a film photograph or 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, with different forms. This represents a danger for consumers, especially when trying to force the dissemination of violent content on children. Every day we encounter expressions of speciesism, racism, machismo, homophobia , among other faces that intolerance takes on, but the intention is not always obvious.
The content of the advertisements
Some of the most graphic cases of repulsive content covered in an aesthetically acceptable way can be seen in advertisements , especially television advertisements. Take, for example, commercials for household cleaning products: almost without exception, they are aimed at women, at housewives, making it clear that their role in the world revolves around maintaining the house while their husband He goes out to get the money.
Surely, a well-dressed woman, with a nice body and in a shiny and spacious house, receiving 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 happens with advertisements for foods from animals, 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 us to name someone who behaves with moderation or who is protected or controlled : “The captain of the team was contained by rival defenders.”
Containment, on an emotional level, occurs when a person feels that they can trust another person to share their problems, that they find in them an unfathomable refuge for their fears. Normally we speak of "a shoulder to cry on" to refer to that being that makes us feel contained, that receives us when we need it most.