In case you’ve missed it, celebrity Ashton Kutcher earlier this week challenged news network CNN to see who would be the first to reach 1 million followers on Twitter.
Since, Kutcher has upped the ante a couple of times, with promises of various schwag for the 1 millionth follower. The contest is gaining so much attention, that today another top Twitter, Britney Spears, also joined the contest, promising her 1 millionth follower tickets to a concert.
CNN commentator Larry King reportedly even fired off a remark that one person couldn’t take down an entire network.
Well, that’s exactly what is really interesting about all of this. That we’ve come to a place in the media landscape where one person can even come close to being able to reach as many people as a network says a lot about the times.
Kutcher also addressed this in video about the contest that’s posted on YouTube:
“For one person to actually have the ability to broadcast to as many people as a major media network – I think that signifies the turning of the tide from traditional news outlets to social news outlets. Because with our phone cameras, our blogging, our Twittering and our Facebooking, we actually become the source of the news and the broadcasters of the news and the consumers of the news.”
What do you think? Have we reached a place where social news is replacing traditional news?
