Where is new media going?

Anyone who's seriously thinking about where the Internet is going should make Haydn Shaughnessy and Ian Delaney a regular part of their reading diet. You won't find news about the latest iPhone or what Mark Cuban is saying. What you will find are two people who ask a lot of questions about where traditional and new media is going. I found their daily commentary relevant because they do impact our thinking and direction for TheGoodBlogs.

Haydn's comment recently on content being no longer king because it is subsumed by connectivity was interesting. If you look at the recent acquisition of MyBlogLog by Yahoo, many pundits believe it was for the social connectivity they provided and not their statistical prowess which was their initial business premise. We've seen a similar trend here at TheGoodBlogs, while we are responsible for driving traffic amongst our members, what they generally gush over is their ability to discover new blogs. "I found you through TheGoodBlogs" is becoming a regular mantra. Before long, I see the same faces on MyBlogLog visitor rolls and in the comment sections on many blogs. Haydn was right, bloggers who succeed (from a readership point of view) are those who spend time connecting to their fellow bloggers. A prime example is Ben Yoskovitz who should be an inspiration to others. If you spend time reading Ben's blog, you never leave with an impression that it is Ben's blog but rather Ben's platform to showcase others. In my book, he is first and foremost a consummate 'connector' in the Gladwell's Tipping Point paradigm and secondly a great 'salesman' with over 300 links to his blog. But his own experience makes him a credible 'maven' as well.

Ian Delaney in one of his previous posts mentions Twitter.com where you can leave a short message pretty much about nothing. An interesting concept, because today's hustle and bustle, most have little time but read the first 256 characters that come from your keyboard. I can't help but believe that one day we'll have a mash up of blog meets wiki and adopts IM. To be sure, the line is going to be blurred and why not, is that not how our lives are? Not surprisingly, reality TV is on the rise in popularity. Amazing how many people will pay attention and make much ado about nothing...

So where do you think new media is going?