Probably one of the most exciting concepts nowadays is "social graph". (By the way, the illustration left shows a screenshot I took of visualcomplexity.com, a site which intends to be a resource space for anyone interested in visualization of complex issues.)
I think I still haven't grasped the impact of the social graph concept in its entirity for the news world. There's so much more to discover as it reveals its power only bit by bit.
If social networks will form the base for future news distribution as mentioned in a previous posting, we will have to take care of how social networks evolve, their impact on search and how we can use it to spread information which are of public interest.
If you like to get an idea, I would recommend to have a look at Google's Social Search project: your social circle will become base for weighting search engine results. In short: what your buddies like might also be interesting for you. Therefore search results will reflect the feedback of your social cycle.
How does that work? - Dave Winer has written an article to explain how Google will probably index your social network via its search algorithm. Something which is pretty easy from a technical viewpoint as Google takes your profile data and all the traces you're willing to leave to access meta data in your social network.
Anyway media and news companies would be well advised to set up social media strategies for that simple reason of growing importance of the social graph. It's time to cross the border. They should become part of their readers' community. In that sense journalism is still in the role of a guide but among a network of peers and no longer as a gatekeeper outside.
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