I’ve been tagged, which I hate but it’s probably better than not being tagged, right? No one wants to be last picked for dodge ball. So five things you don’t know about me, mainly because, who the hell am I……

In no way did I mean that we shouldn’t be building social networks. In fact, that’s what much of my own work involves, and it’s crucial work. When you look at the characteristics of a newspaper, one of its key elements is that it helps define its community and should reflect the thoughts, attitudes and culture of its readers. This, is the essence of creating local networks, and there’s probably no one better positioned than newspapers to do it at the local level.

But I don’t think the laissez-faire approach to MySpace profiles is what newspapers should be doing. I think Facebook and Wikipedia are far better examples. I want users to be able to build a reputation for themselves on our site and provide insightful commentary and reporting, not figure out the best possible ways to make the site look hideous with custom wallpaper, music and commercial interests masquerading as innocent users.

Going with the premise that online community news sites should strive to be as complete as possbile, and produce damn great journalism along the way, then being the hub for community participation and communication seems to be essential. I don’t see any seperation between the audience and the reporter any longer. We’re all the audience and we’re all the reporter. To do that right, you need to host the participation. There is no longer a place for Packaged Goods Media.