Everywhere you look, the old forms are passing away. There is movement away from centralized sources of power and information and toward local sources, local networks, and personal relationships. In the past, with no way to easily communicate, we relied on many gatekeepers. But now the Internet has made it possible for us to network ourselves and share information in ways that are nothing short of revolutionary. I'll leave it to you to work out the implications of all this. You might check out the following video and do some thinking on your own.

As a passionate blogger since 2002, I've been a part of the changing world of information. One question everyone is asking: "How will traditional media sources deal with the rise of social media?" No one knows the answer. It's clear the recording industry didn't get it. They reacted with fear. While they spent millions prosecuting college students, Steve Jobs got creative. He wondered if there might be a way to make money with mp3 files and podcasts. Apparently he was right.

I'm proud to announce that I've been working with the Christian Century to develop a network of thoughtful, progressive, Christian bloggers. Christian Century is taking quite a risk. Rather than react with fear, they've decided to help support a social media network. They've invested some money in creating this network, even though it is not clear exactly how it might benefit their magazine. I think it will. The answer to how it will help the Christian Century will reveal itself in time.

I've always felt that it was an honor to write for the Christian Century. It is an old and respected magazine. I'm excited to be working with them in this new venture as well. I am the mentor/organizer/facilitator of CCblogs. We have 55 bloggers in our network so far. Most are clergy, but not all. All of them are real blogs. Christian Century has no editorial control whatsoever. In true, social media form, CCblogs simply points you to good content. I review blog postings at CCblogs and will begin to do some of my writing there. I hope you'll drop by and check us out. Leave us comments and suggestions. We welcome them.

And if you are a writer who fits into our community, you can apply to be a part of CCblogs. It's a great way for people to find your blog.

rlp