...[defining "blog"] is a hard question, of course, so hard, from my point of view that it
is unsolvable in anything other than local declaration, as in “In this
paper, we use the word ‘blog’ to mean X.” I don’t think there will ever be a definition common enough to take for granted in research contexts.
This pressure to cut out the middle man will grow
everywhere and in all fields. The opportunity is that most of the big
guys will fight rather than switch and hence be doomed. There is a huge
opportunity to support new direct networks. I would not waste a lot of
my time in helping the big guys to defend themselves - they may want to
but their attachment to their system will prevent them. You don't
believe me? look at the airlines - they cannot shift to the southwest
culture.
I'm not sure all of the big middlemen are doomed, but it sure looks
like some of them are going down the drain as the new (social,
economic) networks get built...
