Emergence Media

For some time the Washington Post (WaPo) has included two SMO-related features on the articles they post online:

• “Save & Share Article” - This is a new feature I just noticed; they are the the same buttons you see on most blogs, allowing you to easily bookmark webpages to social bookmark sites.
• “Who’s Blogging” - Essentially a trackback feature that shows bloggers who have mentioned the WaPo article.However, as this is a major newspaper, I am sure this feature is a motivator to blog first to get listed on the top of list. I’m not sure if WaPo planned it this way, but its a good way to encourage bloggers to link to the Washington Post for some free exposure.

I would expect that social bookmarking buttons, trackbacks, and comments will become an ever common feature in established media websites like the Washington Post. Where it gets interesting is in the realm of interactive media and social media, with portable content and higher level of interaction between the audience and the content provider.