Playing tag with old media

Blogma has been known to take the old media to task on occasion for simply not getting the Web. And given its elite status, the Washington Post has .

But to show that we're not just about bashing, we wish to acknowledge the Post for doing something right in the digital age: Matt McAlister noted in his blog that the paper, along with the Columbia Journalism Review, has included buttons on its Web pages that allow readers to create del.icio.us bookmarks, tagging them for future search and reference.

This is significant because it shows that the Post understands and appreciates the concept of tagging, which has become an increasingly important tool for social networking and Web use in general. The move, combined with the paper's decision to end its ban on blog comments, is enough to give one new hope.

Blog community response:

"Now that shows that the managers and editors of the Washingtonpost.com 'get it.' They see the value in the online universe and instead of writing off they are embracing it with open arms."
--From the 21st Floor

"PR types and marketers should take note of this too. Ads, press releases, online marketing collateral, word of mouth and viral campaigns, you name it will have these buttons. They will become as ubiquitous as those "email this to a friend" buttons you see everywhere."
--Micro Persuasion

"I think we'll get to the day where people are tagging content like this on a large scale. But right now, it's a very small percentage of people (less than a 1 percent) who know what tagging like this means. Until then, slapping too many buttons on a blog can give it an undesired Nascar look."
--LexBlog Blog