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Slow Media
Mindful content, from creation to consumption
- Emerging from Creative Hell is a piece discussing Slow Media and its significance in the content and marketing landscape.
- I recommend reading through this if you are somebody that creates content online, works in content marketing, or has an interest in digital trends.
With that being said, how do you adapt to a reduction in content interaction when for the past nearly twenty years the name of the game has been fast-paced, engagement-seeking content? You pause. You reflect. You slow the pace.
The following is a quote from The Slow Media Manifesto:
“Like “Slow Food”, Slow Media are not about fast consumption but about choosing the ingredients mindfully and preparing them in a concentrated manner. Slow Media are welcoming and hospitable. They like to share.”1
I recommend reading through The Slow Media Manifesto. It is not necessarily the earliest definition of Slow Media, but is one of the most highly referenced. Being written in 2010, however, the digital world has progressed substantially since then, and as such, I would like to use that piece of work as a basis, and expand upon the concept from the lens of a content professional in 2025.
The Slow Media Manifesto lists several characteristics of Slow Media, but I would like to specifically call out the following characteristics as my basis to work from:
- Slow Media are a contribution to sustainability.
- Slow Media make quality palpable.
- Slow Media advance Prosumers.
- Slow Media respect their users.
- Slow Media are auratic.
- Slow Media are timeless.
- Slow Media are progressive not reactionary.
I would also like to add the additional characteristic:
- Slow Media are produced wholly by humans.
Slow Media, to be able to have the audience understanding and connection required to produce it, must be produced without the use of generative AI.
With the above definition and characteristics, we can begin to consider the process for creating - and consuming - Slow Media. We will take a look first at what consuming Slow Media looks like for the end user.
The consumption of Slow Media will follow the trend of reduced screen time directly - Slow Media consumers will search for content with intention that fits a need in their life. Instead of discovering your content via an algorithm thanks to hours of scrolling on a timeline, they must be able to find your content independently and must be able to tell that the content is up to their standards, not necessarily aesthetically, but meaningfully. Slow Media is meant for when users seek to engage with mindful media, as opposed to media meant to distract.
Because of Digital Fatigue, consumers have begun seeking to filter out low-quality content from their digital environments, and that trend will continue. Already, 70% of consumers believe that their experience on social media will be harmed by the presence of generative AI.2 This will lead to content that is polished and thoughtful, but still approachable, being of high value to these consumers.
To best understand the mentality of a Slow Media Prosumer (one who both produces and consumes Slow Media), I recommend reading “The slow media movement: detoxing the digital overstimulation” by Robin Collins on Substack.3 This author describes specific measures that one can take to begin setting their own pace digitally, encouraging readers to seek out high value content, produce more than they consume, scale back notifications, and to take scheduled breaks away from digital spaces.
While these consumer habits seem very broad, it’s important to remember that it is by design. Slow Media should be a category that leaves room for the consumer’s interpretation. It will not be often that you meet somebody who completely detaches from Fast Media (the opposite of Slow Media), but you will instead meet many people who devote certain pockets of time to disconnect in favor of more engaging activities.
The consumption habits above, combined with the previously listed characteristics of Slow Media, gives us an idea of what Slow Media can be from the creator’s perspective. Those familiar with evergreen content - content that is made to remain relevant long after the time of posting - will recognize many of these traits. Where Slow Media differs from evergreen content is the impact, the meaning, the sustainability, and the implied quality.
I hesitate to provide specific measures to take when creating for these audiences due to the specific nature of Slow Media; I do not understand your content’s intentions in the way that you do, and as such, you will be able to better understand how to create your content with the Slow Media ethos in mind than I could instruct on this page. Instead, I will provide some general guidance that I consult when conceptualizing my content:
- Consider your impact, environmentally and socially.
Have you considered if there is waste being produced by your content that could be avoided? Are there large technological processes drawing more power than necessary for this project? Does this project welcome people into it, or does it exclude them? - View value from the consumer’s perspective, not the creator’s.
If you didn’t have the context that you gained from creating this media and then engaged with it, would you find it worth seeking out? Would it leave a mark on you? - Create with intention.
Whatever part of the project you are at, you must remember your intention at all times. If what you are doing does not further your intent, you must evaluate if it is worth including. - Include your audience.
If you have not consulted your audience for insight or included them in the process in some way, you are leaving out some of the most meaningful engagement possible. - Try to make something great.
This is, admittedly, one of the most daunting pieces of guidance I have given in my life. But with time, the aim for greatness becomes a part of everything you create in some way. Important: “Great” does not mean perfect. “Great” means to be meaningful, shareable (not as in social media “shares” but as in worth discussing over a coffee with a friend), and auratic. There has never been a “perfect” piece of media, but great ones are made every day.
Next: Importance
1 https://en.slow-media.net/manifesto
2 https://www.retaildive.com/news/50-percent-consumers-abandon-or-significantly-limit-social-media-interactions/704088/
3 https://elevateditgirl.substack.com/p/the-slow-media-movement-detoxing