Your post brings up another vexing question- as the old style of media dies off, from where will we get the original news? Most blogs and social media outlets get their information from traditional journalists “on the front lines.” What happens when those journalists aren't there any longer? Even something seemingly mundane as a sports blog has the same problem. The legion of sports bloggers usually get information from the stories filed by the local beat writers. They'd have a tough time if that source dried up.

What's going on in Iran may be giving a preview. With media access limited, even mainstream TV has started reading off Twitter accounts of events on the air, with the words “Unverified” on the screen.

On another note, a few days after I originally wrote this post, Twitter announced “Verified Accounts,” which would give celebrities a way to have a badge on their accounts confirming that they are who they say they are.