Since I know you are someone who is trying to figure out where the curve of media and technology is going (so you can be ahead of it), I highly recommend this blog post/essay from the CEO of a Seattle company called Pelago.
In it, Jeff Holden outlines his vision for the future of his company. But more importantly to me (and probably you) are his thoughts on the future of digital media. Here’s how he describes the construct that is driving his company’s direction:
Perfect Information plus Pervasive Location, combined with People-powered Media who are Digitizing Life.
Holden offers them as individual theories, but I thought it would be fun to try to combine them. Each can be instructive on their own for the future of news. Taken together, they paint a picture of media and technology consolidation that most people in the news business can’t envision (as they remain fixated on how to charge for a news story).
Holden defines the “trend toward perfect information” as access to “exactly the right information at the right time in the right form.” Holden makes no distinction for news versus other types of information, and neither do most consumers.
“This is an incredibly exciting trend,” Holden writes, “because it represents a shift of power to the individual, who will become literally enlightened in virtually every context.”
At Pelago, they refer to user generated content as “people are the media” and Holden predicts that “everyone’s lives will be meaningfully impacted.” The social media tools that are just now going mainstream help power this new phenomenon, but it’s only just the beginning, according to Holden.
“We believe that the next evolutionary step is organization. Organization of people media will unlock its true power: not only will a single voice influence the world, but collaboration will intensify and the byproducts will be better for it.”
Amen, brother. If news companies leave the organization step of social media to others, as they have with previous online technology advancements, they still need to figure out how to add value with journalism to the mix. They can’t be gatekeepers, of course, but there can still be a role to play for authenticating information and serving as the trusted center of a community, geographic or otherwise.
Mark Briggs 
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