All The News That's Fit To Blog? Not Yet, But Maybe Soon

Blogging and social networking may or may not change the face of traditional media as we know it. But Web wonks at a freewheeling panel discussion in New York Thursday morning said the impact of both is already being felt up and down the media food chain. And with one of the panelists estimating that somewhere in the neighborhood of three million blogs currently exist - three million people decrying the Bush Administration's economic policies, overcrowding at the local zoo or the propriety of continuing "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" without John Ritter - it probably behooves those few who aren't paying attention to get with the program.

The blogging crowd was on enemy turf. The breakfast roundtable, dubbed "The People vs. The Media: Will Blogging & Social Networking Turn the Media World Upside Down?," was held at publishing power-lunch mecca Michael's (in the back room, dubbed "Siberia" by one attendee). Nonetheless, the session was the blogging and social networking equivalent of an all-star game, featuring A-list bloggers, venture capitalists and suppliers of blogging and social networking technology.

The most interesting take on the rise of social networking (and the potential for monetizing it) was given by Tribe Networks chief executive officer Mark Pincus. Pincus, whose Tribe.Net seeks to be to professional networking and advice what Friendster is to dating, suggested that social networks - especially ones that serve as de facto referral networks - could ultimately serve as an alternative to classified ads. The potential implications for advertisers are enormous, as local classified activity is generally considered a better indicator of purchasing intent than a search on the Web.

"Twenty-five percent of the U.S. population participated in a person-to-person transaction [not involving the Internet] last year," he added, saying that there's a huge opportunity for any company that can capture a piece of this business online. At least a few media behemoths must agree: Tribe Networks counts The Washington Post Company and Knight Ridder among its investors.

That point was echoed by Ben Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Spoke, who said advertisers would soon covet (if they don't already) information obtained via social networks. "I can point a better ad at you based on who your friends are," he said. "Who you know defines you more than the magazines you read."

Other panelists explored whether social networks can help media companies build loyalty with existing readers. Tony Perkins, creator and editor-in-chief of AlwaysOn and the event's host, questioned whether newly emboldened readers will continue to be engaged by Web sites that don't allow them to comment on stories, editorials or columns. What the blogging and social networking era has done for these readers, he said, was reveal "the power of participating in media... the average citizen out there has something to say." As a result, he believes every Web site will eventually have to open itself up to readers' comments, or risk losing their trust.

The panelists were skeptical, however, that an institution like, say, The New York Times will ever take even a tentative step in this direction. The reason? "Fright and loss of control," said Advance.net president and creative director Jeff Jarvis, an attendee who ended up speaking as much as several of the panelists. The discussion's moderator also expressed severe frustration with the reluctance of his company to embrace blogging and social networking: Fortune's David Kirkpatrick said he was "egregiously pissed off" by Time Inc.'s failure to exploit opportunities on the Web.

As for the question of whether blogging competes with traditional journalism, the panelists were split. "Generally speaking, no," said Elizabeth Spiers, the former Gawker.com high priestess who now blogs for New York magazine. "Most bloggers are opinion commentators." She did, however, qualify her remarks by noting that lower Manhattan bloggers distinguished themselves with their reporting on and shortly after 9/11.

Jarvis was slightly more complimentary towards would-be A.M. Rosenthals on the web. "Maybe [blogging] is not done by journalists, but it is journalism," he said. "It's still information and it's still commentary." By way of analogy, he gave a shout-out to the great equalizer of another era: "Everybody has a printing press now."

On the other hand, most of the panelists and attendees said they have already turned to bloggers as a prime source of information. Fred Wilson, a former Flatiron Partners managing partner who recently founded Union Square Ventures, noted that many of his fellow venture capitalists are paying as much attention to plugged-in bloggers as to traditional media entities. Speaking about a host of recent transactions, he said, "Everybody knew who was doing those deals before they were announced" thanks to blogs. Similarly, an attendee from Reuters said that many of his story sources are bloggers.

As keen as the panelists were about the future of blogging and social networking, a host of concerns were also noted. Blogger Clay Shirky worried about scale issues. "You can't make a dinner party for six into a dinner party for 60 and keep the intimacy," he explained. "You have to find a way of subdividing the audience." Smith also noted a huge potential downside to the proliferation of blogs: "You only listen to people you want to hear."

Anil Dash, vice president of business development for blog software provider Six Apart, didn't necessarily think this was a bad thing, quipping, "You can't get good coverage of things you care about - that's no slight to journalism." Alas, at least three of his fellow panelists immediately cracked back with "yes, it is!"

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