Bloggers and the Future of Journalism

I had some interesting discussions yesterday with some local bloggers about social networks and new media during their monthly "Future of Journalism" bloggers' roundtable over in NoDa.

I got there a little late (ok, a lot late) but still caught some interesting discussions about the way the media landscape is evolving. Chatting with these folks -- most, if not all of them, in their 20s -- I got the sense that they and their laptop-loving contemporaries are quietly taking control of this country, one mouse click at a time.

Desiree Kane, a CLT Blog writer, was telling me about how her generation grew up on social networks, adopting old AOL instant messaging systems as kids, long before their parents stumbled onto Facebook. While the rest of us are just getting wind of location-based social networks like Foursquare, she's already burned out on it.

As painful as the rise of blogs and social networks has been for "old media" like newspapers, the creative ferment is fascinating to watch. Yes, people do talk about what they had for lunch on Facebook and Twitter (or dinner -- caesar salad and risotto, for one of my FB friends recently). But it's more, too.

Kane, for instance, credits her network on LinkedIn with helping her land a job. And she carefully monitors how her name turns up in Google searches. That used to be simple narcissism. Now it's "search engine optimization," and "monitoring your personal brand."

To the social media skeptics out there, I'd say be careful. The future -- your future -- might just be whizzing right by you.