Social Media: Same Business, Different Distribution

Last night we held our annual Austin networking event and we had the pleasure of hosting Om Malik as our featured guest speaker.  If there is anyone that has the credibility to comment on where social media is going - it's Om.  As one of the most reputable business technology journalists in the industry, Om had the foresight more than five years ago to circumvent publishing outlets and start publishing his work online.  I remember at the time when he told me he had started doing this and thinking, "oh, he's doing some sort of online newsletter."  I was a little off.

Now he's running one of the most successful blogging media companies to date and everyone in the industry is watching to see how the model will work.  His take on social media is this: Traditional media has not given writers the freedom they need to deliver brilliant and timely work.

"Traditional media is not letting their writers be free," he explained.  So writers are seeing the light in because. For example, Om said when he first started his blog, his overhead was essentially a $9.95 Yahoo! monthly Yahoo account.

"Moore's Law has finally hit the newsroom," he stated.  He then went on to explain that the economics of printing has collapsed.  But he sees this shift in media as helping the overall information industry.

"Who wants to eat Cheerios everyday?" If there are more focused writers online covering topics they know inside and out, there will be a higher caliber of information available for society to learn about technologies and companies (or whatever topic they choose to follow).

And when it comes to the standard question about accuracy and accountability, he made a good point. It's in the hands of the reader of who they are going to trust, be it a larger media figure such as Rush Limbaugh, or a blogger such as Michael Arrington.

In the end, he explained, each figure is responsible for their own content and it's more important who the individual writer is versus the outlet or blog they are writing for. People have choice of who they are going to listen to, regardless of who the person works for.

He then commented on something that has continued to be a fierce debate in PR circles.  He explained that corporate communications and the PR industry will essentially continue to function in the same way as it always has, in terms of reaching out to its influencers. The PR discipline will monitor and build relationships with the voices that make an impact on the industry and help them understand how their clients fit into the overall market.

"This is only the first inning of the World Series," Om said.  There will be many more changes ahead in publishing world, but when you boil it down, it really is "the same business, different distribution."

By the way, for those wondering, Om is a Yankees fan.