Content Transitions from 'Something to Read' to 'Something Generated' — Announcing the New Media Structure 'Protocol Publishing'

SHIRO & Co. (Headquarters: Tokyo) has unveiled 'Protocol Publishing,' a new media structure for the AI era.

This initiative proposes a shift from the traditional experience of 'reading completed content' to 'experience-based media' where meaning changes and is generated based on user behavior.

■ Background Due to the evolution of generative AI, high-quality content has exploded in volume and is scattered across the internet and social media. Originally, 'Publishing' referred to the act of delivering information to society. However, in the digital environment, the sheer volume has become excessive, creating a situation where content is consumed without being contextually connected. Information is no longer scarce. The problem is that it is not connected as meaningful context.

■ What is Protocol Publishing? Protocol Publishing is a new content structure where meaning changes triggered by user actions.

The 'protocol' here is not merely a technical specification but refers to a 'rule defining how behavior occurs'.

In this protocol, user actions are defined into the following three categories: - Observe: The state changes - Ignore: Nothing happens - Select: Transitions to a new context

Thereby, content is redefined not as fixed information, but as 'a network of meaning generated through interaction with the user'.

■ Implementation Example (Published Page) As an implementation example of this protocol, we have published the following interactive content: https://book.shiroand.io/protocol-publishing

Users experience state changes and branching through actions such as scrolling (Observe) and choosing (Select). This is not merely browsing, but a structure allowing users to experience the meaning-generation process itself.

■ New Concept: 'Protocol Field' As an extension of this protocol, SHIRO & Co. proposes a concept that treats generated expressions as a 'Field'. Currently, content created by generative AI is scattered on social media and consumed in fragments. In the Protocol Field, these expressions are rearranged into a state connected by the protocol, building a space where meaning constantly changes through actions such as: - Observe - Ignore - Select

This means that while traditional media was 'something that transmits information', it is now expanding into 'a field where meaning is generated'.

■ Features 1. Variability of Meaning Meaning is not fixed but changes according to user behavior.

2. Protocolization of Content By structurally designing text, video, and UI, it becomes a reusable framework.

3. Reconnecting Distributed Content It reintegrates content scattered by generative AI back into context.

4. Visualization of Decision-Making The action of making a choice