Pat Kane is first up, showing us a picture of Dick Tracey with his wrist communication device - something for us all to aspire to, right?
Social Media lets you play at being a journalist - and play is an ambiguous term - are you a player or are you being trivial?
Journalism becomes quotidian in this environment - you can produce it on the same street corner you used to buy your newspaper.
- Beat reporting (content search, geolocation)
- Early warning of events/news
- Real time content/reporting
- Traceable sources for leads and interviewing
- "can you help" - audience interaction
- Promo tool (content marketing)
- Expertise archive
Desk research becomes handheld device responsiveness as you react to the community's collaborative decision as to what is important.
Who verifies flows of information? All news is a narrative that is constructed by groups. Truth is balkanised - which is an interesting niche for existing brands. Can they be the people who frame the tumult?
Can we break out of 140 characters as a content restriction for microblogging? Surely the ability to report easily with a lightweight device will break out of the limit?
How collaborative are journalists prepared to be about their work? WSJ regulations have a hint of King Canute about them. He's more interested in the revalidation of journalism through direct engagement.
"Use what is ubiquitous to drive people to what is scarce". For music business live music is the new priority, as music is becoming ubiquitous. Maps over to newspapers quite precisely - Twitter and Social Media make news ubiquitous. So what's scarce? What can you enclose and charge for?
