The Future of News

The Internet is radically transforming the definition of news so that it includes us. News will longer be just about the doings of government and celebrities — it will soon include any new information about any subject of common interest that is shared within any community. And, since our most important news is that which affects us most directly, like what is going on with our family and friends, Facebook and MySpace are now among the largest, most important news outlets. But what do we make of this strange new thing called “Twitter,” the curious microblogging service that allows users to send short messages to groups without any expectation of a response? If you are unfamiliar with it, the two-minute video below explains it well.

News now answers questions like “What is Britney Spears doing?” If that’s news, why isn’t the answer to Twitter’s persistent question, “What are you doing”? Does this mean that Twitter is in the news business? Incredibly, yes it does.