idiomag

Read/Write Web has recently published an article explaining how niche technology services, such as digg and del.icio.us, are now being recognised by the mainstream media. For example, the New York Times and Time Magazine have digg and del.icio.us buttons beside their online content. As Alex Iskold rightly point out, this has huge implications for the usage of these sites - and therefore their value to advertisers and potential buyers.

The fact that traditional publishers are essential to the mainstream adoption of online services (and that this dependency seems odd) epitomises the current state-of-play in the media industry. We are nearing the tipping point, when online becomes the new offline and when traditional publishers must go beyond simply using “Web 2.0″ services, and actually become them. And of course, Web 2.0 publishers (and their VCs) are betting that the payback will be swift, as advertising money follows the masses onto these services.