Blogs as disruptive technology

Hello everybody,

I have the "privilege" to write a paper on whether blogs are disruptive technologies or not in my Information Management graduate course...

By "disruptive technology" is meant that blogs threaten the "traditional" media such as newspapers, TV etc. (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology)

I was wondering if anybody has seen an academic article or study on that topic. Unfortunately I can hardly find anything in the academic field. Of course there are lots of opinions on the topic but no structured research.

No, I don't want to plagiarize, just need to do a literature review first!

I would greatly appreciate any ideas

Thanks!

Have you read "We The Media"?

I have, Grassroots Journalism, by the people for the people.

BuzzMachine  craigblog   Dan Gillmor's Blog


Reuters, the Brit News agency invited a bunch of us bloggers to their glass tower in Times Square NYC back in the spring for a chat with free drink! They have invited me back again next week, what do you think that’s all about?


PR agencies know their days are numbered so they are beginning to blog themselves. They have no credibility, but they don’t know that yet.


The Tech-Press is TOAST because of the bloggers, when the cover of eweek is something I blogged about last week you know they are in trouble.

But are blogs really life threatening to the media industry or are they more of a complementary nature?

Blogs are faster but out of my perspective sometimes lack credibility. Of course, wrong information will be corrected by others but still...

Or will blogs just change the media industry in that perspective that they are more open to customer/reader feedback?

i probably say its more the Nuclear Family / knowledge age than just blogs:

"Just as the machine seemed at its most invincible, however, we began to receive intimations of a gathering third wave, based not on muscle but on mind. It is what we variously call the information or the knowledge age, and while it is powerfully driven by information technology, it has co-drivers as well, among them social demands worldwide for greater freedom and individuation."

from: http://www.skypoint.com/members/mfinley/toffler.htm 

so while blogs are certainly a part - bit torrent, linux, foss, p2p and many other new disruptive tech play a role in the over-all "wave"

(agriculture, then industrial now knowledge)

jamie wrote:

i probably say its more the Nuclear Family / knowledge age than just blogs:

"Just as the machine seemed at its most invincible, however, we began to receive intimations of a gathering third wave, based not on muscle but on mind. It is what we variously call the information or the knowledge age, and while it is powerfully driven by information technology, it has co-drivers as well, among them social demands worldwide for greater freedom and individuation."

from: http://www.skypoint.com/members/mfinley/toffler.htm 

so while blogs are certainly a part - bit torrent, linux, foss, p2p and many other new disruptive tech play a role in the over-all "wave"

(agriculture, then industrial now knowledge)

Sounds like you have already written your paper, the only way to understand blogging is to start one of your own.

eagle wrote:

Sounds like you have already written your paper, the only way to understand blogging is to start one of your own.

One issue that strikes me is accountability.  Newspapers can be held accountable for printing stories that aren't true, whether this is done on purpose or due to insufficient research.  Newspapers have more liability, because they have to own buildings, pay employees, lease equipment etc.

On the other hand, if a blogger doesn't adequately research something... or even out-and-out lies... the consequences are much less severe.

This gives newspapers a strong incentive to adhere to good journalistic principles.

Some bloggers have a natural inclination to good journalistic principles - some do not.