Where New Media Failed...And How Google Hid $10,000,000 USD under the Rug.

These days, attention usually centers on how "New Media" 'will shape the face of things to come', 'revolutionize how we communicate', 'level the playing field', etc.

While it is true that these new platforms for communication thrive in a robust and social eco system, there are still some 'objects' and 'subjects' of information that slip through the cracks of dissemination.


This is where new media fails.

You already know that traditional sources of information such as television networks and cable news channels have embraced this phenomenon by encouraging staff and personalities to use tools such as twitter or blogs.  

That's all well and good, but by doing so, a majority of ordinary bloggers and tweeters have effectively been relegated to the role of echoing the byline of these traditional platforms.

Case in point: Google and it's promise to give out $10,000,000 USD on it's 10th Anniversary. The web has been pretty quiet about the fact that it's been quite some time since Google even made a blog post about it's own project. I first blogged about it on June 3, 2009. Google last updated the public on January 2009.

Now, a year and a half later, CNN via Wired has picked up the story and reported absolutely nothing new about it.

You may call it media finesse or diplomacy,

I call it the art of sweeping things under a gigantic rug. 

Where has new media failed in this instance? It has failed to raise an outcry, reminiscent of the golden years of the Internet when unknown bloggers exerted vital influence that could coax gigantic corporations to act on something that they are morally obligated to act upon.

When so called new media entities such as Wired.com begin to toe the corporate mantra all in the name of protecting the brand, we may see a future where many other "new media" outfits would do the same.

Farewell to righteous indignation.