Social Media as the Fifth Estate?
A brilliant post from Geoff Livingston on new media becoming the Fifth Estate. Some of you have seen I Twittered about yesterday. Well I finally got around to making my comment.
Well thought out and researched post Geoff.
In effect this post highlights exactly what you are talking about, the evolution and creation of the Fifth Estate. At the same time I actually see this type of post as the evidence of the blurring of lines between the 4th and 5th as Jason points out. Ultimately I do believe that the fifth estate is real, but that it’s greatest impact will be in changing the fourth estate to better respond to their original mission…it will become a simple matter of competitive survival.
When that occurs and the 4thies are properly back into the position of true watchdogs what then happens to the 5thites? Do a portion of them move up into 4thdom and the other remain or do they dissolve away? Yes; if they are smart the traditional media outlets look down to the 5th and grab the talent and shift themselves (already happening as you note). But what about the rest of us? I believe that we remain as a smaller and more focused 5th estate. We remain powerful in order to ensure that the 4th estate never falters again. Dramatic? A bit, but drama is often the catalyst for change.
Took me 24 hours but there it is ;)
Go read the post by Geoff.
/kff
